Participation from the 3rd of February till the 26th of February 2015
Kunitada Matsuoka is a hornist, composer and conductor from Tokyo. He is well known for translating old stories (of sometimes even over a 1000 years old) and sounds into modern compositions.
Plan before participating
“I had plans resuscitate the music that had originally transmitted from the Netherlands to Japan, and to also create an opera like musical story in the music style of that time and to perform that piece͟.”
My process during participation
“Because it was difficult to realize the intended plan only with the first exchange, I decided to play my work with the Amsterdam Youth Symphony Orchestra (www.ayso.nl) under the cooperation of Mr. Peter Veenhuizen. The suite expresses a scene of a story that was transmitted to Japan and is composed out of a combination of: the harmony and melody of the Japanese gagaku (old court music) and a modern harmony. The piece was named Stories that the wind told. I was worried about how the children of the Netherlands would accept Japanese music, but when I tried living in Amsterdam, I found that the Japanese style was accepted very familiarly. It was a wonderful and unforgettable time in my music life that I could be in a very focused time with both rehearsals and concerts.”
After the project participation
“The goodness of life in the Netherlands, the character of the Dutch people and Japanese people is very good compatible and left an impression on me. I would like to continue interaction/ exchange in the future.”
Kunitada also met with Jazz pianist Oscar Jan Hoogland with whom he played Jazz during his last week in Amsterdam. They also held a small goodbye performance together in café the Pianist in Amsterdam.
