Date Composed:2007Composer:Aki TakahashiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:November 3, 2007 - Strathroy Arts Council This song is sung in the traditional style of women who work in the hot springs, onsen. The music is meant to entertain as well as relax and calm the patrons in the onsen resort. ...
Date Composed:2010Composer:Aki TakahashiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:November 5, 2010 - Fleck Dance TheatreRecording Title:Iroha Live Concert DVD YAMABUKI is a deep yellow flower that blooms in late spring. It grows in layers and sometimes its yellow covers an entire hillside. Japanese flutes such as shinobue and shakuhachi are made...
Date Composed:2007Composer:Aki TakahashiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:December 1, 2007 - Ryerson Theatre My first visit to Okinawa came as a big surprise. It was so different from the rest of Japan. I wrote this song to capture the feeling of the local language and the culture. The words...
Date Composed:2010Composer:Aki TakahashiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:November 5, 2010 - Fleck Dance TheatreRecording Title:Iroha Live Concert DVD The colour of a Black Kite’s (TONBI) wing is actually brown with a hint of red. TONBI glide effortlessly through the air instead of flapping their wings. Builders who work in...
Date Composed:2010Composer:Aki TakahashiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:November 5, 2010 - Fleck Dance TheatreRecording Title:Iroha Live Concert DVD The deep green of TOKIWA trees. Like the English words “Ever Green”, TOKIWA implies “Never Changing” since the leaves stays green all year round. Taiko is usually synonymous with movement. Thus, this...
Date Composed:2010Composer:Aki TakahashiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:November 5, 2010 - Fleck Dance TheatreRecording Title:Iroha Live Concert DVD The word SHIRO [white] originated from SHIRAMU [grow light], which we can see in the morning. It is the purest and most divine colour of all. It will repel every colour and...
Date Composed:2010Composer:Aki TakahashiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:November 5, 2010 - Fleck Dance TheatreRecording Title:Iroha Live Concert DVD SHINONOME is a pale shade often seen in the early morning sky, slowly changing its colour as the day approaches. It is crisp as the morning air, clear and magnificent, yet...
Date Composed:2009Composer:Aki TakahashiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:November 27, 2009 - Al Green Theatre, TorontoRecording Title:Iroha Live Concert DVD SHIKKOKU (Black Lacquer), bottomless darkness, is the most beautiful and dignified black. Like layering paint, the sounds of deep and heavy Taiko overlap one another. Sticky and glossy like lacquer, every...
Date Composed:2004Composer:Aki TakahashiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:October 16, 2004 - Hart House TheatreRecording Title:Kiro CD The wind and waves are powerful, more so than one can imagine. How wonderful it is to take up their chorus, with one’s feet planted on the harbour walls, and letting one’s voice...
Date Composed:2009Composer:Aki TakahashiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:November 27, 2009 - Al Green Theatre, TorontoRecording Title:Iroha Live Concert DVD A boundless ocean. Unending waves. Sometimes quiet, sometimes raging. Her rich expression has inspired us for centuries. Our ancestors saw fortune in the waves which opened up like fans, endless...