Atem-Breath... A Breathing Concert – Masako Ohta Solo Piano Concert
The Goethe-Institut Tokyo is hosting a solo concert by Munich-based pianist Masako Ohta. The concert "Atem-Breath" was first presented in 2023 at the exhibition "breath" by artist Rei Naito at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. After successful performances by the shore of a Bavarian lake and at the MGNM Music Festival, it is now finally coming to Tokyo.
Program
-Toshio Hosokawa (*1955): Melodia II (1976)
-Kengyo Yatsuhashi (1614-1685): Rokudan no Shirabe (Transcription for Koto and Piano)
-Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996): Uninterrupted Rest (1959)
-John Cage (1912-1992): Haiku (1950-51)
-Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952-2023): Hibari ... The Lark (2009)
-Toru Takemitsu: Rain Tree: Sketch II (1992)
-Masako Ohta (*1960): breath for piano (2023/2024)
-Mamoru Fujieda (*1955): from Patterns of Plants
-Toshio Hosokawa: Sakura (2007)
-John Cage: In a Landscape (1948)
"Atemweg" - Living with Flowing Breath...
Breathing brings music and us into a state of flow, pause, and continuation. Breath is one of the central themes of my work and my music.
— Masako Ohta
In the spring of 2023, my path of breath led me to the beautiful exhibition "breath" by the Japanese artist Rei Naito (*1961) at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.
Her delicate, breathing colors made me feel as if I were flying and touched me in a very special way—with quiet tones that I almost perceived as silence. During my visit to the exhibition, I felt these tones resonating within me so finely... it was like a wonderful breathing concert.
I wanted to relive and share this breathing concert. This led me to the idea of performing a concert in the exhibition space, to communicate with the delicate breath of Rei Naito's works and breathe together.
My idea was met with great enthusiasm by the exhibition organizer, the "Staatliche Graphische Sammlung."
The first "Atem-Breath" concert took place on August 10, 2023, in the Rotunda of the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich and was supported by the German Tonkünstler Association, Bavaria, as part of the "Tonkünstler Live Special." For this concert, I composed and premiered a new work titled breath (2023).
The composition is inspired by the way Rei Naito builds and designs her works. For a period, Naito recorded her breathing and the air around her in a kind of visual diary. The delicate watercolors she painted in the morning and evening seemed as though the days captured in her works continued to breathe.
My piece "breath - for Rei Naito" (2023) breathes over seven days:
1. on one day （ある日）
2. the next day （次の日）
3. a few days before （何日か前に）
4. a day off （休日）
5. some days （その日々）
6. breath pause （休息）
7. on the 7th day （七日目に）
"Masako Ohta is a poet of the piano." — Münchner Feuilleton
Originally from Tokyo, Masako Ohta is a Japanese pianist, sound performer, and composer active in the fields of classical and contemporary music, improvisation, and film scoring.
She was awarded the Music Advancement Prize of the City of Munich in 2019 and won first prize at the Giesinger Culture Award in 2016.
Masako Ohta deeply engages with poetry, sound, and music from Japan, Europe, and other cultures, creating intercultural and interdisciplinary projects and concert series. Since 2021, she has been co-curating the "IMAGINE" festivals in collaboration with PATHOS Theater Munich.
She studied piano in Tokyo and Berlin and attended masterclasses with András Schiff, György Sebök, and György Kurtág.
Discography
-Solo piano albums released by Winter & Winter:
-Poetry Album (2018)
-My Japanese Heart (2020)
-Live improvisations with Udo Schindler (clarinet):
-Ohenrosan (2014, DE)
-Botenstoffe (Confront Recordings, 2017, UK)
-Kaiyushikiteien (2019, PRT)
-Music in Space (2020, PRT)
-My Japanese Heart was nominated for the German Record Critics' Award in 2020.
