ON an endless ROAD
ItŌ noe & the women composers of her Time
At the heart of this dramatic concert programme is a new song cycle, written especially for Akiko by British composer Francesca Le Lohé. A Japanese stringed instrument, the biwa is traditionally used to accompany narrative songs chronicling the achievements of warriors in battle. Francesca's new work celebrates the brief life of writer and feminist anarchist Itō Noe (1895-1923), killed by Japanese state forces when she was just 28. It is sung in Japanese with English surtitles.
Alongside this new work, sits beautiful music for violin and piano by three of Noe’s contemporaries who broke new ground writing in the Western Classical tradition: Kōda Nobu (1870-1946), Toyama Michiko (1913-2006) and Yoshida Takako (1910-1956). Click here to read more about them and their music.
'On an Endless Road' premiered in Tokyo in 2023, and Hera presented the UK tour, in association with Illuminate Women's Music, to mark International Women's Day 2024. For the tour, Akiko was joined by award-winning international soloists violinist Midori Komachi, pianist Yura Zaiki and special guest speaker Dr Irena Hayter (Associate Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Leeds).
Akiko Kubota has performed extensively across Asia, South America and Europe including with the Vienna Philharmonic and Brussels Philharmonic. This is her first visit to the UK. Francesca has worked in Japan since 2015, and in 2019, her opera ‘The Key’ won the prestigious Keizo Saji Prize. She was an LSO Soundhub Associate 2022-2024.
WATCH NOW
"Itō Noe: On an Endless Road" by Francesca Le Lohé, performed by Akiko Kubota at the Cosmo Rodewald Hall (Manchester), 8th March 2024 as part of Musica Festival.
The Artists
