ANDROID OPERA TOKYO | Ebisu The Garden Hall, Tokyo

2024

On June 18th, at Ebisu The Garden Hall, the Tokyo homecoming performance of the android opera “MIRROR,” composed and produced by Keiichiro Shibuya, took place under the title ANDROID OPERA TOKYO. This work is a large-scale theatrical production that was first staged in 2023 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. It features a combination of the android, an orchestra, Shomyo (Buddhist chant), Shibuya’s piano performance, electronic music, as well as video and lighting. The work was initially presented at Expo 2020 Dubai in 2022 and was later re-created as a 70-minute piece. After its premiere in Paris, this is its first performance in Japan.
The first part of the performance features excerpts from the new opera “Super Angel,” which was commissioned by the New National Theatre and premiered in 2021. This opera involves children and an android in its creation. Thirty members of the “White Hand Chorus NIPPON,” a children’s choir of children with diverse backgrounds, including deaf and visual impairments, participate. In addition to Shibuya’s piano and orchestral performance, the android, and emerging artist Yuma Kishi’s AI-powered visuals, the children’s costumes are a collaboration with HATRA.
In the second part, the android “Alter 4” is the vocalist in “MIRROR.” Four Buddhist monks from Mount Koya, including Shomyo performers, participate, with young monk Tani Hoshin leading for the first time. French visual artist Justine Emard live-mix visuals for the performance. For the Tokyo performance, a 40-member orchestra gathered, with violinist Tatsuki Narita, famous in classical and contemporary music, as the concertmaster.

Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Doors Open: 6:00 PM, Performance Begins: 7:00 PM
Venue: Ebisu The Garden Hall

Part I: Super Angels Excerpts

Concept, Composition, Piano, Electronics: Keiichiro Shibuya
Lyrics: Masahiko Shimada
Vocal: Android Alter 4
Chorus: White Hand Chorus NIPPON (Chorus Conductor: Hiroo Kato, Hand Sign Conductor: Erika Coron)
Solo Violin: Reina Nagano
Orchestra: Android Opera TOKYO Orchestra (Concertmaster: Tatsuki Narita)
Android Programming: Shintaro Imai
Visuals: Yuma Kishi
Costumes (White Hand Chorus NIPPON): HATRA, NOVESTA

Part II: Android Opera MIRROR
Concept, Composition, Piano, Electronics: Keiichiro Shibuya
Vocal: Android Alter 4
Shomyo: Koyasan Shomyo (Yasuhiro Yamamoto, Taiko Kashihara, Hoshin Tani, Shoei Kametani)
Orchestra: Android Opera TOKYO Orchestra (Concertmaster: Tatsuki Narita)
Visuals: Justine Emard
Android Programming: Shintaro Imai

CREDITS
Organizer: ATAK TOKYO CO, LTD.
Co-organizer: Osaka University of Arts
Cooperation: TV Asahi
Special Android Cooperation: Department of Art Science, Osaka University of Arts
Production Cooperation: Communication Design Center, Dentsu Lab Tokyo, Flex Co., Ltd.
Planning, Production, and Management: ATAK TOKYO CO, LTD.
Special Sponsorship: PwC Consulting LLC
Sponsorship: POLA Inc., Sowa Delight Inc.
Supported by Arts Council Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture

Photo by Kenshu Shintsubo

Photo by Kenji Agata

Photo by Kenshu Shintsubo