Project work

Synecdochism III (2022)

- music, photography and visual art

Maribeth Diggle, Soprano

Maya Egashira, Violin

Asuka Hatanaka, Percussion, Marimba

Yuta Inada,  Visual art & operation*

Martin Boverhof, Visual art** 

Junichi Takahashi, Photography**

The third “Synecdochism” is formed as an entire concert program for Aichi Triennale 2022. The stage comprises six musical compositions by Imai, including two new pieces. One of the new works, entitled “Transcendent – mirror”, is written as a duo for a soprano solo and visual art which is created with pictures that capture shifting expressions of Noh masks through various angles and lighting. This collaborative project is made possible with the generous support of the Toyohashi Uomachi Noh Conservation Society. It involves nine different kinds of Noh masks created over 400 years ago by Noh mask artists. The nine masks are all designated as prefectural cultural properties and some as nationally important cultural properties. It is believed that Noh masks only become alive when performers wear them, but this project’s challenge is to put life into the masks with music, photographs and visual art. The other new work, entitled “Once upon a time, there was a man…”, is based on a traditional Japanese short poem (Waka) from Ise Monogatari and is a suite with seven short pieces which are performed separately in between other pieces. Together with the visual art that depicts the world of this poem, this piece expresses the poem’s delicate beauty of subtle and profound space. The stage for this work has the shape of an equilateral triangle. The three musicians move back and forth between the three corners and the center of the triangle depending on the piece. Three screens are placed above each corner of the triangle, and the audience at the three sides of the triangle surrounding the stage experiences the integration of their visual and auditory senses which allows them to feel as if they are transcending time and space. 

1. Once upon a time, a man... ~ from Ise Monogatari *  for soprano, violin and percussion

2. Transcendent -mirror (I. Beauty with obscureness, II. Transience of life) ** for soprano with visual art  

3. Introspection for percussion solo **  

4. Weaving for violin solo 

5. Crossboundary VIII - Resonance II - for soprano and percussion

6. Hyojo no choshi from Gagaku arranged for violin solo