Today was an extraordinary day for many reasons. First, our two
soloists arrived and attended rehearsals for the first time; Shakuhachi
performer
David Kansuke Wheeler and koto performer
Yumi Kurosawa.
Although they were only observing staging rehearsals, it was exciting
for me to imagine what the music will sound like when performed on the
instruments I actually wrote it for. Under Matthew's charismatic
leadership, we ran large sections of the opera without stopping, and
simply fine tuned minute details here and there. I was so impressed by
the movement choreagraphy that Matthew came up with for Rei's first
aria, "Now I dance the mountains..." and even more impressed by how
elegantly Ji Hyun was able to execute complicated movements while
singing memorized text/lines in a foreign language. I can't quite
explain why, but scene 4 literally drive me to tears. The combination of
the voices and the intensity of the music combined with the dramatic
content and extraordinary staging left me breathless. As tears came
streaming down my cheeks and I grabbed some tissues to hide them, I
looked over to see that Kenny was crying too! I can't imagine what will
happen when we run it with the two soloists and our string quartet.
Nina Yoshida Nelsen as The Woman, opening aria: "The day after..."
Ji Hyun Jang as Rei, singing "Now I dance the mountains..."
Shakuhachi performer David Wheeler observing staging rehearsals
21-string koto performer Yumi Kurosawa studying her part
Our four singers: (l to r) Ji Hyun Jang, Takaoki Onishi, Nina Yoshida Nelsen, and Mihoko Kinoshita
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