The android opera MIRROR, composed and produced by Keiichiro Shibuya, will return to Tokyo at Ebisu Garden Hall on 18 June (Tue). The work is a theatre production, which was performed at the Theatre du Châtelet in Paris last year, comprising an android, orchestras, piano and electronic music performed by Shibuya himself and the 1,200-year-old Buddhist music Shomyo, as well as video and lighting.
It was presented at the Dubai Expo in 2022, re-produced as a 70-minute piece the following year, premiered in Paris, and will now be performed in Japan for the first time.

The Tokyo performance will also feature excerpts from Super Angels, a novel opera created with children and androids, commissioned by the New National Theatre, Tokyo, and premiered in 2021. In addition to a piano played by Shibuya and orchestra, android and up-and-coming artist Yuma Kishi’s AI-based images and the children’s costumes will be created in collaboration with HATRA.

In the second part, MIRROR, the android ‘Alta 4’ will perform vocals, and four monks and Buddhist prayer performers from Koyasan will take part, with young monk Hoshin Tani taking the lead for the first time in this performance. For the video, French visual artist Justine Emard comes to Japan for the live mix of the video. The 40-member orchestra assembled for the Tokyo performance welcomes violinist Tatsuki Narita as concertmaster, who is renowned for classical and contemporary music.

This will be the first solo performance of the android opera in Tokyo in six years, since its premiere at the Miraikan in 2018, and it is noteworthy to see how it will evolve after its world tour.
 

For one night only, a ritualistic space that celebrates and simulates “after the end” will appear in Ebisu.
 

Tickets will be on sale from 19 April (Fri) at Ticket Pia (http://ticket.pia.jp/pia/event.ds?eventCd=2414401 ) from 19 April (Fri), with more details to be released in due course.
 

Artist list
Stage 1 Super Angels excerpts.
Concept, composition, piano, electronics: Keiichiro Shibuya.
Vocals: Android Alter 4
Chorus: White Hand Chorus NIPPON
Orchestra: Android Opera TOKYO Orchestra (Concertmaster Tatsuki Narita)
Android Programming: Shintaro Imai
Video: Yuma Kishi
Costume (White Hand Chorus NIPPON): HATRA
 

Stage 2 Android Opera MIRROR
Concept, composition, piano, electronics: Keiichiro Shibuya
Vocals: Android Alter 4
Shomyo: Koyasan Buddhist Chant (Yasuhiro Yamamoto, Taihiro Kashiwabara, Tomonobu Tani, Shoei Kameya)
Orchestra: Android Opera TOKYO Orchestra (Concertmaster Tatsuki Narita)
Video: Justine Emard
Android Programming: Shintaro Imai
 

Performance outline
Android Opera TOKYO – MIRROR/Super Angels excerpts.
Date and time: Tuesday 18 June 2024, doors open 18:00, show starts 19:00.
Venue: Ebisu Garden Hall (1-13 Mita, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-0062)
Tickets: on sale from 10.00 on 19 April (Fri) at Ticket Pia (https://t.pia.jp)
Price: S seats 22,000 yen, A seats 16,500 yen, B seats 11,000 yen, C seats 7,700 yen, D seats 5,500 yen, students 3,300 yen (limited number)
Ticket sales URL: http://ticket.pia.jp/pia/event.ds?eventCd=2414401
P code: 269052
Box office code: 2414401