From Tradition to Future―Opening the World with Noh and Contemporary Music

Index

What is the “Nitobe Leadership Program”?

*This event has finished.

Lecturer: Aoki Ryoko (Noh Performer/Contemporary Music Artist)
Date: Saturday, November 4, 2017, 1:30-3:00 pm
Venue: Lecture Hall, IHJ
Language: Only available in Japanese (without English interpretation)
Admission: Free (reservations required)

Noh has long been an all-male domain developed under the protection of samurai warriors. Although Ms. Aoki was neither born into a noh family nor a male, she learnt noh and now performs successfully worldwide. Not being able to fit in any existing framework within the world of noh, Ms. Aoki explains that she was always looking for different frameworks. In this lecture, she will share her challenges as a groundbreaking performer through her collaboration with contemporary music in Europe and America.

Noh Performer/Contemporary Music Artist

Aoki Ryoko

Completed a master’s degree in Traditional Japanese Music at the Graduate School of Music, Tokyo University of the Arts (specialized in main roles of Kanze school of noh) and a doctorate at the University of London. She has been making new collaborations of noh and contemporary music jointly with leading composers of the world. After releasing a debut album titled “Noh × Contemporary Music” in 2014, she has been frequently invited to music festivals held throughout the world. She was highly praised in the part of Malinche in Wolfgang Rihm’s opera “The Conquest of Mexico” cast by Gerard Mortier (directed by Pierre Audi) at the Teatro Real de Madrid in 2013. She was appointed a “Japan Cultural Envoy” by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of the Japanese government in 2015 to perform in Europe. She was nominated as a member artist for Aichi Triennale 2016 and performed in Aurelien Dumont’s opera “Himitsu no Neya.” Upcoming engagements include Toshio Hosokawa’s new chamber opera “Futari Shizuka –The Maiden from the Sea” with Ensemble intercontemporain conducted by Matthias Pintscher at Festival d’Automne à Paris in December 2017 and Federico Gardella’s new orchestra piece at The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence in January 2018, and her debut at Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam in February 2018.

Aoki Ryoko Official Website: ryokoaoki.net

What is the “Nitobe Leadership Program”?

The Nitobe Leadership Program (Nitobe Kokusai Juku in Japanese) started in 2008 to train young professionals from various organizations and corporations to become public-minded leaders, equipped with a broad perspective to function in an international environment both in and outside the country. The program invites professionals of various fields to speak on their experiences, allowing participants (Nitobe Leadership Fellows) to deepen their understanding of such themes as globalization and leadership. This year, Fellows will consider the theme, “The World in Confusion: Exploring a New World Order.” Some of the lectures are open to the general public.

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