Opening Ark Nova in Tokyo
The mobile concert hall known as "Lucerne Festival Ark Nova" opened with a ceremony on 19 September at its on-site location in Grass Square Park in Tokyo Midtown in the Japanese capital of Tokyo. The opening took place in the presence of architect Arata Isozaki; concert agent Masahide Kajimoto; the Swiss Ambassador Jean-François Paroz; the President of Tokyo Midtown Management, Yasuhiro Nakamura; and Michael Haefliger, Director of Lucerne Festival. The Ark Nova was made accessible to the public between 20 and 24 September. Numerous concerts, a panel discussion, and a symposium will be presented there from 30 September to 4 October.
Entry fees are low, as they have been at the previous on-site locations in Matsushima, Sendai, and Fukushima, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting projects dedicated to the reconstruction of the regions in the country’s northeast that are still suffering from the aftermath of the earthquake.
On Roppongi Art Night, the Ark Nova’s architect Arata Isozaki, Masahide Kajimoto, and Michael Haefliger will hold a panel discussion. From 1 to 4 October, Lucerne Festival musicians Reinhold Friedrich, Andrea Loetscher, Jörgen van Rijen, and Eriko Takezawa, as well as a string quartet comprising Lucerne Festival Alumni, will give several small concerts. Additionally, on 2 October there will be recitals by the cellist Gen Yokosaka and the countertenor Daichi Fujiki with the guitarist Yasuji Ohagi and a symposium with Masahide Kajimoto, Kobayashi Kaoru, the Mayor of Fukushima, and Michael Haefliger on the theme of "how art can help".
Following these events at the Ark Nova, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra will start its first-ever tour with Music Director Riccardo Chailly on 6 October. Follow us to Asia on our tour-blog.
Lucerne Festival Ark Nova Programming for 2017
30 September 2017 | 14.30-16.00 | panel discussion as part of Roppongi Art Night
Arata Isozaki, architect of the Ark Nova | Masahide Kajimoto, concert agent | Michael Haefliger, Executive and Artistic Director of Lucerne Festival
01 October 2017 | 16.00 | concert for Roppongi Art Night
Reinhold Friedrich, trumpet | Andrea Loetscher, flute | Eriko Takezawa, piano
works by Doppler, Honegger, Enescu, Debussy, Fauré, and Gershwin
02 October 2017 | 11.30-12.15 | Concert 1
Gen Yokosaka, cello: works by J.S. Bach and Mayuzumi
02 October 2017 | 14.00-14.50 | Concert 2
Ensemble der Lucerne Festival Alumni: Shimoda Yutaka and Maya Azuma, violins | Wakana Ono, viola | Simon Thomson, cello | string quartets by Stravinsky, Mozart, and Takemitsu
02 October 2017 | 16.30-17.15 | Concert 3
Daichi Fujik,i countertenor | Yasuji Ohagi, guitar | Japanese songs
02 October 2017 | 19.00-21.00 | Concert 4 and Symposium
Reinhold Friedrich, trumpet | Andrea Loetscher, flute | Eriko Takezawa, piano
works by Ravel, Shchedrin, Piazolla, de Falla, Moszkowski, and Bizet
03 October 2017 | 20.00-20:55 | Concert 2
Reinhold Friedrich, trumpet | Andrea Loetscher, flute | Jörgen van Rijen, trombone | Eriko Takezawa, piano | works by Doppler, Martin, Höhne, Florian M. Maier, and Prokofiev
04 October 2017 | 12.15-12.45 | Concert 5
Reinhold Friedrich, trumpet | Andrea Loetscher, flute | Jörgen van Rijen, trombone | Eriko Takezawa, piano | works by Honegger, Ropartz, Debussy, Jongen, Ravel, and Prokofiev
04 October 2017 | 15.00-15.50 | Concert 6
Ensemble of the Lucerne Festival Alumni: Kaya Kuwabara and Maya Azuma, violins | Wakana Ono, viola | Simon Thomson, cello | works by Borodin and Schafer
Organization of the Lucerne Festival Ark Nova: Tokyo Midtown Management
Support: Swiss Embassy in Japan
in cooperation with Isozaki, Aoki & Associates Co., Ltd.