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World Premiere of Osamu Kawakami's Banded Choral Shrimp at International Music Festival Nippon

Mar. 01, 2020

The International Music Festival Nippon 2020, led by artistic director, Akiko Suwanai, has been running since mid-February and continues through March across Japan, in Tokyo, Nagoya and Kamaishi. 2020 marks a number of significant events: 75 years since the end of the Second World War, the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, and 30 years since Akiko Suwanai made her debut after winning First Prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition. A project titled “Akiko Plays CLASSIC & MODERN With Friends” is introduced at this year's Festival, alongside many other new events.

An ambitious program is planned for the March 13 concert “Akiko Plays MODERN with Friends”,  which aims to pass on the excitement of contemporary work to the next generation. Osamu Kawakami’s Suite “Carapace” is featured alongside the works of Steve Reich,  Marc-André Dalbavie, and others.

Suite “Carapace”, consisting of 15 short pieces, was composed over the span of 10 years beginning in 2005, and is divided into three volumes according to the era in which it was composed. Swimming Crab, Water Flea, and Sea Scorpion from Volume II will be performed and, in addition, the world premiere of the new and 16th work in the series, Banded Coral Shrimp will be presented. Akiko Suwanai performs alongside cellist Henri Demarquette and pianist Markus Groh.

Kawakami has composed several unique works on the theme of living creatures. The banded coral shrimp is a small shrimp that feeds on parasites of larger fish. Alongside performances of the composer’s older works, audiences will discover how this small creature and others are so magnificently depicted through the power of Kawakami's musical imagination. 

Listen to Osamu Kawakami's Tettigonia orientalis (2010) for string quartet:

(Tettigonia orientalis/Osamu Kawakami/Takeru Chikenji and Satoru Sakurada, violin/
Kei Sakoda, viola/Yui Hosoi, cello)

To learn more about Osamu Kawakami, visit: schott-music.com

Osamu Kawakami
Banded Coral Shrimp - from Suite “Carapace” Volume IV
for violin, violoncello and piano
[World Premiere]

Swimming Crab - from Suite “Carapace” Volume II
for violin, violoncello and piano

Water Flea - from Suite “Carapace” Volume II
for violin, violoncello and piano

Sea Scorpion - from Suite “Carapace” Volume II
for violin, violoncello and piano

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