Classical Music Japan 2024

Parallel 40 is an ode to discovery and connection, collecting and arranging music from many different countries and regions found along the 40th Parallel North. Starting in Menorca and heading east, for a full turn around the globe, the Belinfante Quartet will discover music from Menorca, Italy, Albania, Greece, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, North Korea, Japan, the USA, Portugal and Spain. From music by Terry Riley and Tan Dun to the earliest known string quartets by Alessandro Scarlatti, Parallel 40 combines a vast array of music. As well as hearing several new and lesser-known works for string quartet, the Belinfante Quartet has composed and arranged many of the pieces, transforming the vivid and varied sound worlds of the folk music from countries along the Parallel into brand new works for string quartet. Parallel 40 aims to promote diversity and unity in classical music, creating a legacy which will inspire future generations of young artists and composers worldwide.

Born in São Paulo, Clara Sverner's interpretations are well considered by public and critics from Brazil and abroad.

Jouni Somero (born in 1963) is one of the most active performers among present Finnish musicians. So far he has given over 3,300 concerts all over the world, including Australia, Japan, Ukraine, Germany, Hungary, Kosovo, Spain, Suisse, France, Sweden, Estonia, Russia, Brazil, Canada and Finland.

Music is always the best way to bridge distances and promote great partnerships. And to prove this theory, Europe will be the witnessing the great gathering between Portuguese singer Maria João and Brazilian pianist and composer André Mehmari. A concert full of surprises and dreams, which promises to create a new chapter in the history of this duo. Mehmari's repertoire includes new songs composed especially for his duo with Maria João, which will be released on an album on 19th July 2024, by Galileo Music Germany, with lyrics created by Maria João.

“…. a pianist of utmost beauty combined with fantastic technique… above all, his temperament, stage personality, and communicative powers make him one of the most natural concert pianists of his generation.” – Vladimir Krainev

Hailed by the international music press and highly praised by music connoisseurs, the recordings of Bach’s entire body of vocal music made by the Bach Collegium Japan (BCJ), its conductor Masaaki Suzuki and numerous prestigious soloists, many of whom have remained remarkably loyal to the undertaking from the outset, are here brought together to form the only complete set of these works in high-resolution format.

Japanese vibraphonist and marimba player Masayoshi Fujita returns with Migratory, his masterful new solo album, where his sonic explorations into the unknown continue.

The first recording by the up-and-coming Takayuki Mihara is three of Beethoven's masterpiece piano sonatas. Dedicated to the memory of his former teacher Akiko Sugitani, who passed away suddenly in 2019, the piety that pervades the entire work adds depth to the music. ＜Takayuki Mihara graduated from Kaisei Junior High School and Senior High School, and received his B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Keio University. Later, she studied under Akiko Sugitani, who became her lifelong teacher. She was fascinated by the gentle yet powerful music of her teacher's piano playing, and under her guidance, pursued the pursuit of beautiful sound. She performed with the Prima Vista String Quartet and the Polish Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra, and became passionate about bringing out a variety of tones from the piano.

Pianist Eric Le Sage, often praised for his ‘precious, noble and tonally subtle playing’ (Rondo), dedicates himself here to two unusual chamber music works from the French late Romantic period that are rarely heard in the concert hall. There is the Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, op. 21 by Ernest Chausson (1855-1899), a string sextet with a particularly virtuoso violin part (the dedicatee was the Belgian violin legend Eugene Ysaÿe) - which is indeed what its title suggests: a violin concerto with chamber music accompaniment.

The Pacific Quintet’s debut album on Fuga Libera is a reflection of the diversity of its members and core focus; it also offers a nod to the composer who inspired the ensemble: Leonard Bernstein. Going beyond the standard classical repertoire, the prize-winning quintet (clarinet, horn, flute, oboe and bassoon) presents music from their home countries of Japan, Honduras, South Korea, Germany and Ukraine/Turkey in a programme which transcends all differences of culture, language and tradition.