Super Japan - Japanese Festival of Arts 2016  Himiko: Memories of the Sun Goddess  A Production by Suntory Hall (Japan)
20 May 2016

Super Japan - Japanese Festival of Arts 2016 Himiko: Memories of the Sun Goddess A Production by Suntory Hall (Japan)

This May, one epic evening of Japanese storytelling comes your way, in celebration of the arts of Japan. This is the reimagined legend of Himiko as the enigmatic avatar of the sun goddess, a theatrical concert experience that brings together music and dance, traditional and classical art forms, the East and West. Escape into a captivating world of Japanese mythology as the story of Himiko's birth, life and resurrection unfolds through a marriage of Japanese traditional and western music, a breathtaking performance that fuses kabuki and Japanese classical dance. Himiko: Memories of the Sun Goddess is the brainchild of four venerable artists—kabuki actor Fukusuke Nakamura, composer Yoshihiro Kanno, violinist Yasuko Otani, and shamisen player Mojibei Tokiwazu. Its world premiere at Suntory Hall, Tokyo, in 2014 left its audience and critics in awe. This Singapore edition marks a special collaboration between Suntory Hall and Esplanade, and features distinguished musicians, conductor Yoshihiro Kanno, cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and violinist Yasuko Otani, performing with some of the most outstanding Japanese traditional musicians; western classical musicians from Singapore; and kabuki performer Kotaro Nakamura (son of co-creator Fukusuke Nakamura), reprising his role as Himiko. Joining them on stage is a shomyo chorus of 16 Buddhist monks reciting sacred chants.