Of Toy Pianos and Sake Making — A Concert of Works by Yoshihiro Kanno

Of Toy Pianos and Sake Making —
A Concert of Works by Yoshihiro Kanno

Saturday, February 25, 2017
8:00 - 10:00p

University of Rhode Island, Fine Arts Center Concert Hall
105 Upper College Rd, Kingston, RI 02881

This concert features the husband and wife team of composer Yoshihiro Kanno and pianist Noriko Ohtake, who successfully merge western music with Japanese sensibilities, and traditional elements with computer technology. The opening work “A Particle of Water” is for solo piano with Myochin-Hibashi, a pair of very long iron chopsticks, which the pianist also plays as a percussion instrument. “The Remains of the Light III” is a collaboration between the piano and computer. We will see the music in “City of Wind” in which motion graphics complement the pre-recorded Japanese instruments and computer-generated sounds. URI Concert Choir, directed by Prof. Mark Conley, will sing selections from “A Tale of Sake Making Country,” which is based on traditional regional sake-making songs. Also, Manabu Takasawa will perform a solo piano work that he commissioned in 2003 for his Tokyo debut recital. The concert ends with a unique ensemble piece called “Cat in the Box” for prepared piano four-hands and two toy pianos.

Performers: Noriko Ohtake, piano; Yoshihiro Kanno, computer operation; Manabu Takasawa, piano; and URI Concert Choir with Mark Conley, conductor.

Free and open to the public, reception to follow