THE Japan Foundation- Manila is pleased to present the first-ever Haruki Murakami Festival in Manila: Experience his works through Music, Films and Talks that will run until March 2018.
The Festival, which showcases Murakami as one of the world’s best-selling and most popular Japanese contemporary novelists consists of a series of free events categorized in three segments giving opportunities to enjoy the world of Murakami with the three senses: 1) “Talk about” Murakami (discussions), 2) “Watch” Murakami (films); and 3) “Listen to” Murakami (live concerts).
The last segment presents live performances for two nights featuring music woven in Murakami’s novels as performed by award-winning musicians from Japan and the Philippines:
Hiroko Kokubu Pianist, composer and music arranger
KOKUBU studied classical piano at Kunitachi Music College and went to New York to study jazz under the guidance of great musicians, including Barry Harris. In 1987, she made her first album “More Than You Know” in Japan by JVC. Since then, she has released 23 albums and has gained worldwide popularity. She was a teacher featured in NHK Television for jazz piano courses and has regular programs in both TV and radio.
The keys to the success of her albums are the warm, beautiful melodies and pop influences of her compositions that are embodied in her thrilling and hot improvisations.
She is currently a visiting professor of the Heisei College of Music as well as the Shobi College of Music and is the Cultural Ambassador of Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan.
1966 Quartet
A FEMALE quartet which performs covers of western music based on classical techniques. They released their debut CD Norwegian Wood – The Beatles Classics with Columbia Japan in November 2010, incorporating “1966” into their name—the year the Beatles arrived in the midst of Beatlemania in Japan. The quartet has been praised for their performances that juxtapose the rock-and-roll spirit with the group’s refined, classical image on cover albums in 2011 and 2012 of Queen and Michael Jackson songs. The group returned to their roots with their fourth album Help! – Beatles Classics in 2013, which demonstrated their development as a unit with energetic and vivid performances. The fifth album Abbey Road Sonata (2014) was recorded in the famed Abbey Road Studios in England.
The group received acclaim for their sublime merger of Beatles songs and famous classical pieces. They released their first compilation album Best of 1966 Quartet in 2015.
The group is composed of Risa Matsuura (violin, leader), Yuki Hanai (violin), Haruka Hayashi (cello) and Aoi Tanaka (piano).
April Merced-Misa
BORN and raised in Cotabato, award-winning pianist Merced-Misa has lived and trained solely in the Philippines with the best local mentors, honing her craft through full scholarships at the Philippine High School for the Arts and the University of the Philippines College of Music.
She has performed as a soloist and collaborative artist in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. For the 33rd concert season of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Merced-Misa was featured as a soloist playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto in C Major under the baton of Maestro Tetsuji Honna at the Main Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Merced-Misa has won several awards, notably the National Music Competitions for Young Artists and two concerto competitions that paved the way for her orchestral debut with Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto in B-flat minor.
Her past mentors include Avelina Manalo, Nita Abrogar-Quinto, Agot Espino and Reynaldo Reyes. She is currently an assistant professor of piano at the University of the Philippines-College of Music.
David Ezra
HE has numerous awards under his belt, including Best New Male Artist in the 2015 Aliw Awards, winning Best Actor in a Musical for his title role in Aurelio Sedisyoso: A Rock Sarswela in the 2017 Aliw Awards and four other awards he won with his former group, The FORTEnors.
Ezra is lauded for his powerful portrayal of leading roles in musical theater. In mid-2017, he played one of the lead roles in La Estrella: A Night of Music and Flamenco. In 2016, he played General Emilio Aguinaldo, the male lead in Tanghalang Pilipino’s Mabining Mandirigma, and played the title role in Aurelio Sedisyoso in late 2017. As a soloist, he has performed in various shows and events across the country. Some of his more significant performances include the recently-concluded Asean Summit where he sang alongside the country’s top artists for world leaders, including President Donald J. Trump of the United States.
He is also proud to have performed alongside the country’s most respected musicians, most notably with Maestro Ryan Cayabyab and the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra for a concert. Undeniably versatile, he attributes this quality to his training in the University of Sto. Tomas-Conservatory of Music, as well as being the son of Asia’s diva, Dulce. For more details, visit https://facebook.com/jfmanila.