TsukuBlog

The City of Tsukuba, the Tsukuba Cultural Foundation, and the Tsukuba 9th Symphony Steering Committee would like to invite the public to a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D. minor, opus 125, known as the “Ode to Joy Choral” to be performed at Nova Hall on Saturday, December 30, 2006. The choral parts will be performed by a community chorus made up of local residents and the 2006 Tsukuba 9th Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Yuichi Takubo. Members of the citizen’s chorus rehearsed for about 4 months to stage this inaugural year-end choral concert here in Tsukuba City. In addition to the “Ode to Joy” Symphony, Wolfgang Mozart’s Divertimento for string orchestra in D major (”The Salzburg Symphony No. 1″), K. 136 will also be part of the afternoon program, which is set to open its doors at 2pm with the actual performance beginning at 3pm.

General admission tickets are being sold for 1,500 yen at the Tsukuba Cultural Foundation or Tsukuba Shinkou Zaidan located at the rear of the Tsukuba Capio Center (029-851-2886) or at Nova Hall (029-852-5881). For more information, call the Tsukuba Cultural Foundation (029-856-7007).

For those of you out there not flying home for the holidays and who are planning to spend your New Year’s Holiday here in Japan, come join us during this holiday season. Make the December 30 choral concert a part of your end-of-the-year celebrations.

Blast is an exciting musical show that focuses on percussion. It is coming to Japan for shows in Tokyo in August and September. (August 3 to 5 at Tokyo Kosei Nenkin Kaikan, August 8 to September 9 at Tokyo Kokusai Forum.) Tickets range from 4000 yen to 11,500 yen. (The cheaper tickets are already sold out for many shows, especially on the weekends.)

More info:
http://www.blasttheshow.com/
http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/593/stage.asp (Metropolis article from a previous year)

In Japanese (includes information about how to buy tickets):
http://www.blast-tour.jp/

=============================
CELLO RECITAL

Saturday, February 2, 2008
3pm
Nova Hall
Cello: Pieter Wispelwey
Piano: Alexander Melnikov

A seats: 3000 yen
B seats: 2500 yen
C seats: 1500 yen

Program includes:
B. Britten: Cello Sonata in C major, Op.65
L.v. Beethoven: Cello Sonata No.3 in A major, Op. 69
B. Martinu: Variation on a Slovac Folksong
S. Prokofiev: Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 119

=============================
PIANO RECITAL

Sunday, March 9, 2008
3pm
Nova Hall
Piano: Boris Berezovsky

A seats: 3500 yen
B seats: 2500 yen
C seats: 1500 yen

Program includes:
L.V Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, Appasionata
N. Medtner: from Fairy Tales
R. Schumann: Davidsbundlertanze, Op. 6

=============================
Discount!

You can get a discount if you buy tickets for both concerts at the same time.

A seat: 5500 yen
B seat: 4500 yen

=============================
Tickets

Nova Hall: 029-852-5881
Yamaha Tsukuba Branch: 029-850-0518
Ticket Pia: 0570-02-9990
Internet: http://www.tins.ne.jp/~tsukuba-concert

The sound engineer who has been doing most of our recording recently has very good English. Out of respect for his ability, I ALWAYS use that language when dealing with him, even though we could always switch to Japanese. WHICH language to use with a particular person can be a delicate question when there is more than one possibility since it could be insulting to suddenly change away from the English (or any other language) which a non-native is doing their best to speak and I usually hesitate to do so. I often witness amusing bouts of linguistic sumo in which each speaker tries his/her best to keep the conversation in the OTHER person’s language. This is why I used English to make this week’s studio booking, even though DATES and TIMES are very fertile territory for misunderstanding. I thought I had made arrangements for Thursday night, but I guess this was only heard as SAZDAY, which as you can understand, is easily confused with SADADAY, or Saturday.

Anyway to make a long story short, Michael Frei, Thomas Mayers and I showed up at the studio only to find out that we had come two days too early. Everyone felt pretty embarrassed. Fortunately, the evening was not wasted. Since we suddenly found ourselves with nothing to do, I remembered that I hadn’t been to East of Eden, a small pub which often has live music, in a very long time. I quickly found out that my friends had NEVER been there. In ten minutes we were walking through its front door. Tsukuba is full of surprises, and that night we were VERY happily surprised. Though it was a weeknight, there was a LIVE gig about to start. The proprietress told us that it was two guys from Kyushu who call themselves NO MISS GUITARS, and to get directly to the point, they blew us away. From start to finish these mid-thirtyish Kyushu-Danji kept our rapt attention with their powerful musical presence. With 2 acoustic guitars, harmonica and vocals we were treated to a full and sumptuous range of moods and tone colors, evoking an array of influences as disparate as Django Reinhart and The Violent Femmes. And though they were limited in terms of number of instruments they still made each song sound different. Their mastery of changes in dynamics was especially impressive. This was certainly not background music and I think there was hardly any conversation between audience members throughout the show. All the while, the crowd’s gaze was intently fixed on the performance. It made me sad to think how these guys, true artists, have to virtually hobo around the country, passing out a hat (there was no cover charge) while pretty faced, vapid, TARENTO inundate the media and rake in millions. I can’t wait to see these guys again and I would highly recommend that you check them out for yourselves. They will be playing at different small livehouse every day or so over the next few days.

Anyone who would like to get a glimpse of a very special Tsukuba sub-culture should head to East of Eden in Azuma. Its clientele is fiercely loyal and consists mostly of acoustic musicians and their friends. If you are a musician yourself I would VERY much recommend going there Sunday evenings for open mic night. Even if you don’t play yourself you might still want to hear some of the music that is being written right here in Tsukuba. You WILL be impressed. Also check out their LIVE schedule. Acoustic guitar wizard Okayan is a regular performer.

Epochal Hikari no Concert
December 24, Monday
Venue: Epochal Tsukuba entrance hall
Time:17:00 - 19:30
Admission: free

17:00 - Handbell Concert by Suzuno-ki Handbell Choir
17:30 - Choral Singing by Tsuchiura Choir
18:00 - Hula Dance Performance
18:30 - Handbell Concert by Suzuno-ki Handbell Choir
19:00 - Drawing for gifts

The sounds of Senegal come to Tsukuba.

When: Wednesday, May 21 from 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm)
Where: Nova Hall
Cost: A Seats 4000 yen, B Seats 3000 yen (pre-school aged children should not attend)

See: Flyer

Reservations
Nova Hall: 029-852-5881
Tsukuba Cultural Foundation: 029-856-7007
Tsukuba Capio: 029-851-2886

Babysitting service available for children under 10 years old. 1000 yen per child, limited to 10 children. Reserve a spot for your child by calling the Tsukuba Cultural Foundation before May 11.

April 8, Sunday is one of Potiron-no-Mori(ポティロンの森) ’s customer appreciation days, and admissions will be free*!

There will be concerts by
Ikimonogakari(いきものがかり),
Zero(a Korean singer), and
Kaori Iida(飯田圭織),
all very popular singers. There will be a public recording of “Woody Live(a popular program on “bayFM”)” from 13:00 to 15:00pm.

According to the Potiron’s website, this is also a good time to enjoy 芝桜(siba-zakura, or moss phlox/moss pink) and 菜の花(na-no-hana, or field mustard/rape blossom), so don’t forget to bring your camera(and your kids)!
* You’ll still need to pay 500yen for parking, but you’ll get an annual parking pass in exchange.

Tsukuba City Hall has stopped publishing the Nova Hall and Capio schedules in their newsletter (which has gone from bi-monthly publication to just monthly publication on the first of the month). Since that was the only place I could find the schedules online, I am afraid that I cannot translate them anymore. (Feel free to send your complaints to the City Hall here.)

I did, however, buy some tickets to the Doudou N’Diaye Rose Percussion Orchestra performance this Wednesday and that seems to have resulted in me being put on the Tsukuba Cultural Foundation’s mailing list. I received an envelope from them today. I was hoping that it was the monthly schedules, but it just seems to be pamphlets for two upcoming events. So, for lack of any other information, here are two upcoming events:

The Harvard Krokodiloes, an a cappella group from Harvard University, will be performing at Nova Hall on Thursday, June 19 from 6:30pm. Tickets are 1000 yen for students and 2000 yen for everyone else.

Watch the Kroks perform “Wanna Be Like You”:

And on Friday, August 1, the “Shakespeare for Children Company” (子供のためのシェイクスピアカンパニー) will perform Cymbeline at Tsukuba Capio from 6:30pm. (I think the performance will be in Japanese.) Tickets are 3500 yen for adults and 1500 yen for students of high school age or under. A babysitting service (1000 yen) is available for up to 10 children from ages 0 to 10 years (reserve by July 21).

Tickets for the above can be obtained from the Tsukuba Cultural Foundation (029-856-7007), or from Nova Hall (029-852-5881) in the case of the Kroks, or Capio (029-851-2886) in the case of the Shakespeare performance.

14th Annual Musicafesta di Tsukuba
- A joint concert of various amateur groups in Tsukuba and its surrounding area.

June 10, Sunday
10:30AM to 5:15PM
Nova Hall
Free admission
List of participating groups (Japanese):
http://www.geocities.jp/musicafesta_di_tsukuba/festa1.html

The websites of some of the participating choirs and orchestras:
Vocal Ensemble Tsukuba
V.O.U.K. (Ushiku)
AIST Music Club Choir (Tsukuba)
Shingakademie Tsukuba (English)
Tsukuba Philharmonic Chorus
Miho Chorus
Tsumugi no Sato Chorus (Yuhki)
Tsuchiura Chorus
Ryugasaki Chorus
Kaffe kranzcben (Tsukuba)
Tsukuba Science City Orchestra (English)
The participating groups, not just the ones I’ve listed here, are accepting new members.

The Nagareyama Green Festival runs from April 29 to May 5 in front of Nagareyama Otaka no Mori Station on the Tsukuba Express line. You can see a 10 square meter infiorata (image represented in flowers). The main event will be held on the 5th with an open cafe, exhibits about environmental activities, and a performance by SO-GEN, a group of women who play taishogoto (Japanese autoharp) in modern style.

Flyer
Stage Layout

February 2: Cello Recital, Nova Hall
February 3: Volleyball Tournament, Capio Arena, FREE
February 3: Zero First Concert, Capio Hall, FREE
February 8: Shamisen Concert, Nova Hall
February 8: Ballads in Wood, Capio Hall
February 9: Gymnastics Festival, Capio Arena, FREE
February 9: Symposium Mt. Tsukuba Renaissance, Capio Hall, FREE
February 10: Folklore (South American Music) Concert, Nova Hall, FREE
February 10: Wind and Percussion Ensemble Concert, Capio Hall, FREE
February 11: Ensemble Verde, Nova Hall
February 15: Energy Symposium, Capio Hall, FREE
February 16: Guitar, Mandolin Recital, Nova Hall, FREE
February 17: Trombone Club Recital, Nova Hall, FREE
February 22: Ballads in Wood, Capio Hall
February 23: Tunisian Night, Capio Hall
February 23, 24: Street Dance Program, Nova Hall, FREE
February 28: Rakugo, Nova Hall

The Tsukuba Cultural Foundation used to send out an English version of the Nova Hall and Capio schedules every month. I don’t know why they stopped doing that, as it was a wonderful service to the community. Anyway, I found the schedules in the City Hall newsletter (Japanese version) and thought that I would give you a minimal translation so you could get an idea of what is happening this month.

March 1: Street Dance Recital, Nova Hall, FREE
March 1: Challenge Art Festival, Tsukuba Capio Hall, FREE
March 2: Ibaraki Piano Concert 2008, Nova Hall
March 2: Piano Recital, Tsukuba Capio Hall, FREE
March 4: Aragaki Tsutomu Concert, Nova Hall
March 8: Kikuchi Music School Recital, Tsukuba Capio Hall, FREE
March 9: Boris Berezovsky Piano Recital, Nova Hall
March 9: Coleman Violin Recital, Tsukuba Capio Hall, FREE
March 11, 12: University of Tsukuba Drama Circle Performance “Sayonara”, Tsukuba Capio Hall
March 15: Ballet, Contemporary Dance Recital, Nova Hall, FREE
March 15: Tsukuba Noh, Kyogen “Shikisai”
March 16: University of Tsukuba Wind and String Ensemble Concert, Nova Hall
March 16: Tsukuba Dance Group Recital, Tsukuba Capio Hall, FREE
March 20: Tsukuba Gakuen Music School Recital, Tsukuba Capio Hall, FREE
March 22: Takezono High School Wind Orchestra Concert, Nova Hall, FREE
March 22, 23: V-Challenge League Men’s Volleyball, Tsukuba Capio Arena, FREE
March 23: Suzuki Method Piano Recital, Nova Hall, FREE
March 29: Charity Concert, Nova Hall
March 30: Suzuki Method Violin Recital, Nova Hall, FREE

Please have a look at the source document for times and prices.

Does anyone want to volunteer to do this sort of thing every month? (Or is there any chance that the Tsukuba Cultural Foundation will start doing it again?)

The 6th Guitar Festival in Tsukuba (第6回ギターフェスティバルinつくば) will be held this Sunday at Tsukuba Capio Hall from 12:50pm to 4:30pm.

Tsukuba Cultural Foundation website only mentions the event name, location and time, so I don’t have any other information. I did see a handmade flyer posted in Namiki Kouminkan (community hall), so there might be other public places that have the flyers for this event. It looks like there are various artists and groups performing, including some professionals.

This event is free.

If you are in town this weekend and are looking for a special event, how about a jazz concert? A Tsukuba and Ushiku-based amateur big band called Sound Gazette will hold a charity concert again this year to raise money for すぺーす結(Space Yui). Space Yui is an Ushiku-based welfare group for children with special needs and their parents in southern Ibaraki. It offers opportunities for about 70 members to get together and exchange information. Space Yui also publishes newsletters and provides counseling services for families who are taking care of children with special needs. Kanji for Yui (結), by the way, means to knot, tie, or unite.

**************************************************
Annual Sound Gazette Christmas Jazz Concert 2007
December 23, Sunday
Doors open at 6:30PM, Performances start at 7:00PM
Admissions: Free, but donations accepted for Space Yui

Space Yui website
Sound Gazette website

Are there any fans of “The Police” band out there?  If so, hurry - there might be some tickets left for their Valentine’s Day performance (2/14/08).  They were originally set to play in Tokyo on the 2/13 only…but due to demand, they added the 2/14 show!  You can buy tickets by credit card via internet (PIA system) or even with cash at your local convenience store, like Family Mart.  The most expensive and cheapest seats are already sold out, but as of two days ago, remaining tickets were priced at 10,000yen and 13,000yen.

A unique combination of artists is coming to Tsukuba to give a performance with traditional Korean and Japanese instruments in July. The Tokyo show is already sold out, so this is a great chance for you to see these world-class performers in Tsukuba.

Friday, July 6, 2007
7:00pm (doors open at 6:30pm)
Nova Hall
Tickets: S=4800 yen, A=4300yen (sold at Nova Hall, Capio, Ticket PIA, and Lawson Ticket), also available at the door on the day of the event for an extra 500 yen

Performers: Kim Duk-Soo Samulnori
Guest: Hiromitsu Agatsuma (Shamisen)

Samulnori is a genre of traditional percussion music originating in Korea. The word samul means “four objects” and nori means “play”; samul nori is always performed with four traditional Korean musical instruments:

1. Kkwaenggwari (a small gong)
2. Jing (a larger gong)
3. Janggu (an hourglass-shaped drum)
4. Buk (a frame drum similar to the bass drum)

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samul_nori

(Please note that the ensemble mentioned in the Wikipedia article is the one that is coming to Tsukuba.)

More information about this event (in Japanese)
http://artnpo.exblog.jp/

More information about Kim Duk-Soo
http://www.planet-arts.co.jp/samul/prf_kim_samul.htm (in Japanese)

More information about Hiromitsu Agatsuma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiromitsu_Agatsuma (in English)
http://agatsuma.tv/profile/index.html (in Japanese)

Avi Landau, lead singer of the Tengooz, a band that is quite famous amongst Tsukubans, has offered to let us download some of his latest songs. Click on the song titles to get your very own copy!

Watching You Smile
by Hase G and Avi Landau (sax solo conceived by Michael Frei)

Hase G - Bass, keyboards, marimba
Michael Frei - Sax
A-Chan - Drums, percussion
Avi Landau - Vocals and rin (Buddhist bell)

Clear Skies
by Avi Landau

Sagara Kenya - Trombone
Fumi Tanaka - Guitar
Jon Hicks - Drums
Hase G - Bass
Avi Landau - Vocals

Wish You (Christmas Song)
by Avi Landau

Sagara Kenya - Trombone
Fumi Tanaka - Guitar
Jon Hicks - Drums, backup vocals
Hase G - Bass
Avi Landau - Vocals, guitar

The Tsukuba Cultural Foundation recruits choir members for the “Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony concert”, which will be held on Dec.29 at Nova Hall, Tsukuba city.

Lessons for the members who sing “DAI-KU”for the first time have started already, but you can still join. Coaches are Japanese, and lessons are also done in Japanese only, but you sing in German.

Lessons are on weekends (mostly 7pm-9:30, once a week) at a local Tsukuba community center. (Takezono, Oho, Yatabe, etc) Participants should pay 5000yen to the Tsukuba Cultural Foundation at Capio.

For more details, please contact: Tsukuba Cultural Foundation 029-856-7007

Tsukuba City Government 029-836-1111 (5152)

Dimaks took a couple of videos of a marching band from the University of Tsukuba performing in Tsukuba Center. I’m so impressed with the sound quality of this video. It’s amazing what cellphones can do these days!

See the second video on his blog.

The quality of this band is just incredible. I have always marvelled at the quality of music education in Japan. I remember listening to an elementary school band when I lived in Fukushima and thinking that — to my untrained ears — they were as good as any adult band I had ever heard. In Canada, an elementary school bands are generally fun to watch, but I wouldn’t rate their sound quality as being concert-worthy.

* YEH’s website was down for a whlie, and it may still take extra time for their site to comes up.*

Youth Ending Hunger (YEH) Ibaraki will host its annual charity concert this Friday at Als Hall, the second floor of Tsukuba City’s main library.

YEH Ibaraki Char♪ty Concert 2007
June 15, Friday
From 7:00PM
Admission: 500yen

Performing artists:
Unplugged, Univ of Tsukuba “singing and reciting” club
Doo-Wop, Univ. of Tsukuba a cappella circle
University of Tsukuba Orchestra, a piano performance by one of its members

Related websites:
Youth Ending Hunger Japan (Japanese)
Hunger Free World

YEH - Youth Ending Hunger Ibaraki
Annual Charity Concert

When:
July 5, Saturdayfrom 6PM to around 9PM,
Doors open at 5:30PM
Venue:
Tsukuba Als Hall
(2nd floor of the Tsukuba Public Library Building)
Tickets:
450yen advance, 500yen at the door

Program:
Part 1 (about 70min)
Opening ceremony
Performances by
- KANADE, String quartet
- Chie Morishima, piano
- Doo-Wop, a cappella

Part 2 (about 60min)
Slide Show
Performances by
- Mukuna Tshiakatumba, percussion and song
- Folklore Aikoukai, Peruvian and Bolivian music by Tsukuba University students

Part 3 (about 40min)
Performances by Tsugaru Jamisen Mugen Juku
Collaborated performance
Closing ceremony

For more information, contact Akiko Shirota of YEH Ibaraki
yeh_ibaraki[at]yahoo.co.jp

Related websites:
Youth Ending Hunger Ibarakli
TsukuNavi