ABOUT WORK

The operatic performance Scary Beauty, composed and directed by composer and musician Keiichiro Shibuya, features AI-equipped humanoid robot that sings with a human orchestra and sings alongside the players. The opera lyrics are an amalgamation of critical texts: a love song by Michel Houellebecq, cut-up texts by William S. Burroughs, extracts from Ludwig Wittgenstein’s last work, On Certainty, and others. The performance is a metaphor for the transitional nature of the relationship between humans and technology. It shows the fatalistic side of the future, where humans cannot exist without the technology they create. This concert was made to celebrate 150th anniversary of Nagoya University, especially collaborating with Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra.

PERFORMANCE

Android Opera ‘Scary Beauty’ by Keiichiro Shibuya
Collaboration with Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra

Date: 16th Oct 2021
Venue: Nagoya University

CREDITS

Concept, Composition, Direction, Piano: Keiichiro Shibuya
Vocal: Alter3

Conductor: Motoharu Kawashima
Orchestra: Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra
Android Programming: Shintaro Imai, Takashi Ikegami
Special Thanks: Kohei Ogawa

Lighting: Takayuki Fujimoto (Kinsei R&D)
Sound: Yoshiyuki Kanamori, So Matsumura, Yu Kudo, Ryohei Ikeda(Oasis)
Video: Kotaro Konishi
Live Streaming: Yuki Suzuki(Oasis)
Technical Assistants: johnsmith, Yuki Yamashiro
Stage Managers: So Ozaki, Kazuya Kushimoto
Production Manager: Natsumi Matsumoto

Lighting Equipment Support: Pi PHOTONICS, INC.
Special Thanks: Kunitachi College of Music, Alternative Machine, Warner Music Japan, mixi, Inc.

IMAGE GALLERY