JapanNYC, Carnegie Hall’s expansive two-part citywide festival, led by Artistic Director Seiji Ozawa, invites audiences to explore the incredible diversity of Japanese arts and culture with more than 40 performances and events at Carnegie Hall and New York City partner venues in December 2010 and spring 2011. The festival will feature concerts by some of the country’s great classical music artists, including cornerstone festival performances by two ensembles founded by Mr. Ozawa—the Saito Kinen Orchestra and the Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku (Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Orchestra)—in rare overseas appearances.
In addition to performances at Carnegie Hall, JapanNYC will extend itself throughout New York City, thanks to partnerships with prestigious New York cultural institutions and free Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concerts at community partner venues in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan.
In New York, JapanNYC launches in December 2010 with Maestro Seiji Ozawa conducting three Carnegie Hall concerts by the Saito Kinen Orchestra, resident ensemble of the prestigious annual Japanese festival that Mr. Ozawa founded in 1984 to honor the memory of his beloved teacher, the conductor and influential educator Hideo Saito; pianist Mitsuko Uchida joins Saito Kinen as soloist for one performance. The festival will pay tribute to the late Tôru Takemitsu, considered by many to be Japan’s greatest composer and also a close colleague of Mr. Ozawa’s, with three performances in December on consecutive evenings, including a performance of his orchestral work November Steps by the Saito Kinen Orchestra, a concert of traditional Japanese music at Columbia University, and a Zankel Hall performance featuring improvisations on Takemitsu’s film music, curated by the composer’s daughter, Maki.
Surrounding these December 2010 musical performances will be a variety of fall exhibitions, workshops, and performances, including manga and calligraphy workshops for young people, presented by The New York Public Library; theatrical performances of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, inspired by Japanese anime as part of Works & Process at the Guggenheim; and exhibitions of Japanese art focusing on works by renowned artist Yoshitomo Nara at the Asia Society, Zen master Hakuin Ekaku at Japan Society, and the great artist/designer Isamu Noguchi and his contemporaries at The Noguchi Museum.
JapanNYC returns in March and April 2011 with three weeks of events across New York City, including concerts of classical, jazz, and traditional Japanese music; contemporary theater; noh and kyogen plays; modern dance; film; and more.
A major spring highlight will be the US debut of the Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku (Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Orchestra). Founded by Mr. Ozawa in 2000, the orchestra is comprised of promising young musicians who are given the opportunity to learn and perform both opera and orchestral music under the tutelage of world-class professionals. For JapanNYC, Mr. Ozawa will bring this gifted young orchestra to Carnegie Hall, presenting a concert performance of Mozart’s opera Le nozze di Figaro and an orchestral program to include Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Martha Argerich.
Exciting JapanNYC Carnegie Hall presentations will also include: violinist Midori in two performances—a solo recital and chamber music program; a concert by the NHK Symphony Orchestra, joined by Principal Guest Conductor André Previn and soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa; Bach’s Mass in B Minor, performed by Japan’s premier period instrument ensemble, Bach Collegium Japan, led by its founder and Artistic Director Masaaki Suzuki. Also at Carnegie Hall: a Zankel Hall program featuring jazz pianist/composer Toshiko Akiyoshi; traditional Japanese folk music with shamisen players Yutaka Oyama and Masahiro Nitta; and the New York recital debut of classical pianist Aimi Kobayashi.
Spring 2011 JapanNYC musical highlights at partner venues will include a performance of gagaku—traditional Japanese court music that dates back more than 1,000 years—featuring the Columbia Gagaku Instrumental Ensemble at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre. The Juilliard School will present two concerts at Alice Tully Hall, one by the Juilliard Percussion Ensemble, performing ceremonial and ritual works by Japanese composers, and one by the New Juilliard Ensemble, led by Music Director Joel Sachs, exploring music of the avant-garde after World War II.
Japan Society will contribute to JapanNYC in spring 2011 with presentations of art and artists both past and present: performances by Kashu-juku Noh Theater, traditional Japanese theater with a 600-year history, and Bye-Bye Kitty!!! Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art, an exhibition featuring 16 groundbreaking Japanese visual artists.
Other fascinating JapanNYC spring partner events: The Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) in partnership with Asia Society will present The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, a multimedia play based on a novel by the great Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. BAC will also partner with Danspace to present Eiko and Koma: The Retrospective Project, celebrating 30 years of the pioneering dancers/choreographers with film screenings, live performances, workshops, and panel discussions.
Film Forum will present Japanese Divas, a series of films spotlighting five legendary actresses from the golden age of Japanese cinema, including some previously unseen in the US; and The Paley Center will present A Window On Japan, highlighting arts and culture through films about Japan from its collection.
Four free Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concerts, presented by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute in partnership with community venues throughout New York City in the spring, will invite audiences to experience a diverse range of Japanese artists, including Taiko drumming group Soh Daiko; shamisen players Yutaka Oyama and Masahiro Nitta; and Line C3 Percussion Group in a program of works by Tokyo-based composers and New York composers influenced by Japan.
Extending beyond New York and following the success of its bicoastal festival celebrating Chinese culture in fall 2009, Carnegie Hall will continue its West Coast partnership with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County for a second consecutive year. Select artists appearing in JapanNYC will also perform this season at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California, as part of JapanOC, a West Coast festival presented throughout the Philharmonic Society’s 2010–2011 season, thanks to the generous support of South Coast Plaza. JapanOC will feature a variety of arts events and musical performances, including collaborations with prominent Southern California cultural institutions.
With programming kicking off in late 2010, the festivals on both US coasts were planned to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the first overseas trade mission from Japan to the United States and the ratification of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1860, saluting this milestone and special friendship between two great nations.
JapanNYC is the fifth major citywide festival to be presented by Carnegie Hall since 2007. Past festivals have included multi-disciplinary celebrations of the city of Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, African American music, and Chinese culture. Programming for JapanNYC reflects Carnegie Hall’s commitment to presenting festivals that draw together the Hall’s programmatic and educational resources, inviting audiences to explore compelling themes across the full spectrum of the arts.
