Distinguished Visiting Artist Program
Winter 2017
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Of Toy Pianos and Sake Production
MUSIC OF JAPAN: Traditional and Modern
Saturday, February 25, 2017
8–10 p.m.
Concert Hall, Fine Arts Center
URI Kingston Campus
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Featuring husband and wife duo, composer Yoshihiro Kanno and pianist Noriko Ohtake, along with a performance by the URI Concert Choirand Manabu Takasawa, URI professor of music.
The concert is free and open to the public. A reception will follow.
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Memories of the Sun Goddess “Himiko”:
Merging Western Classical Music with
Japanese Traditional Music and Drama
a public lecture presented by Professor Yoshihiro Kanno
Tuesday, February 28, 2017 • 12:30–1:45 p.m.
Concert Hall, Fine Arts Center
URI Kingston Campus
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If you have a disability and need an accommodation, please call 401.874.4359 at least five days in advance. For TTY assistance, please call the R.I. Relay Service at 711.
Sponsors: Office of the Provost and the Department of Music
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Yoshihiro Kanno, a composer and professor of intermedia research at Waseda University, graduated from the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music with the master’s degree. He has won several prestigious awards including the 1979 Prince Pierre of Monaco Musical Composition award, the 1994 Recommended Work of International Music Council award sponsored by UNESCO, and 2012 award for the Tradition Creatrice by Japan Arts Foundation. Kanno’s compositions are founded on three genres–Western orchestral music, Japanese traditional instruments, and computer music. Employing the various elements freely and unboundedly, he has composed a number of pieces based on Japanese idioms and traditions. His works have received commissions and performances internationally. The ballet “Mandala” was performed at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1988 and toured New York and Washington, D.C. in 1991. In 2005, “City of Wind” for instrumental ensemble, computer sounds, video and acoustic control, commissioned by RITE Project, was performed in New York. In 2007, “Earth Stream” for percussion and piano 4-hands was premiered by Evelyn Glennie, Noriko Ogawa and Philip Smith in Kawasaki. In 2008, “Deep–Sea Maze” for flute and percussion was commissioned by and performed at Klang Zeit Muenster, Germany. Since 2009, “Particle of Piano” series has been performed by Noriko Ogawa all over the world. The most recent highlight is “Himiko,” an epic theatrical work embracing both Western and Japanese instruments and dancers. “Himiko” was premiered in 2015 at Suntory Hall in Tokyo and was performed at Espranade in Singapore in May 2016.
Noriko Ohtake is a pianist and Professor of Music at Sagami Women’s University. She came to the United States at the age of 15 and graduated from the Juilliard School in New York with B.M. and M.M. and received Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland. Her main teachers include Martin Canin and Thomas Schumacher. As the first prize-winner of Enrico Fermi Foundation Competition, Ohtake has also won the first prize at Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association Competition and the Homer Ulrich Award at the University of Maryland. After returning to Japan, she has performed in numerous recitals and chamber music concerts. In 1996, she appeared on a BBC broadcast program commemorating the death of the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. In 1997, she made a concert tour in Chile for the centennial celebration of the relationship between Japan and Chile. Ohtake has authored a number of musical publications including “Creative Sources for the Music of Toru Takemitsu” (Scolar Press, London) and “The Dictionary of Piano Composers and Their Compositions” (Yamaha). She has translated into Japanese “Study Guide” Series (Zen-on) and the “J.S. Bach Well-Tempered Clavier Mugellini Edition” (Yamaha) among many others. She has also edited scores including “Haydn Piano Sonatas”, “Schubert Drei Klavierstücke” (Zen-on), and 3 volumes of “Piano Music for Late Romantic Modern and Contemporary Periods” (Yamaha). She is a recipient of JSPS KAKENHI grant and has been conducting research on Henry Cowell.