US Premiere of Akira Nishimura's Sakurabito with the South Carolina Philharmonic
Mar. 02, 2016
The South Carolina Philharmonic gives the US premiere performance of Akira Nishimura’s Sakurabito on March 12 at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia, South Carolina, led by Morihiko Nakahara.
Nishimura’s Sakurabito was commissioned by the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra, which gave the work’s premiere in 2010. The word “sakurabito” translates from ancient Japanese to mean “people who love and admire the beauty of cherry blossoms”. Nishimura’s work, through the course of three attacca movements, relates the genesis of a cherry blossom to the lifespan of a person. He elaborates:
At the beginning of this composition, I explore the idea that the cherry blossom is a symbol of the lifetime of a human, whose transient processes are like those of a cherry blossom coming into flower, transitioning into full bloom, and then falling. Even in a day, a cherry blossom changes from sunrise to sunset. I feel that this also symbolizes our emotional world in daily life. So to speak, each of us is a cherry blossom, and at the same time we are all “sakurabito” loving the others who live as cherry blossoms.
For more information on the performance, visit scphilharmonic.com.
Details on Akira Nishimura can be found at zen-on.co.jp.
Akira Nishimura
Sakurabito (2010)
for orchestra
2.2.2.2-2.2.0.0-3perc-hp-str
13’