Sonic Art Oxford 2009
2nd April @ 3pm, Jaqueline du Pre Building, St Hilda's College,
Cowley Place, Oxford, OX4 1DY
Okeanos perform new music for Japanese and western instruments by students at Oxford Brookes University. Programme also to include traditional Japanese music.

Radio 3 'In tune'
Tuesday 21 July from 5.15pm
Melissa Holding - koto & Clive Bell - Shakuhachi perform
Kumoijishi: 'The Cloud & the Lion' - solo for shakuhachi flute.
Haru No Umi: 'The Sea In Springtome' by Michio Miyagi,for shakuhachi and koto.


Radio 3 Promenade Concert Interval Talk
Friday 24 July from 8.15pm
Robin Thompson talks about the traditional Japanese instrument, the sho.

Dartington International Summer School
Monday 24th August @ 10.30pm GREAT HALL
A programme of Japanese ghost stories & folk tales, with storyteller Kumiko Mendl. Improvisation from Japanese instrumentalists.

Dartington International Summer School
Tuesday 25th August @ 8.15pm GREAT HALL
Dai Fujikura:  Touch of Breeze; Cutting Sky; Okeanos Breeze
Traditional: Kumoijishi (The Cloud & the Lion)
Michio Miyagi: Haru No Umi (The Sea in Springtime)
Howard Skempton: Fragments
Also works by Somei Satoh, Judith Bingham and Akiko Ogawa.
And traditional Edo music including Rokudan Kumoijishi and Midare

Glasgow University Chaplaincy
Tuesday 29 September, 6.30 pm
Japanese classical music, Clive Bell & Melissa Holding

Edinburgh Central Library
Wednesday 30 September 1pm
Japanese classical music, Clive Bell & Melissa Holding


Bmic The Cutting Edge @ The Warehouse Thursday 19th November at 7.30pm
Electro-acoustic collaboration with combined forces of Okeanos and [rout] ensemble. Featuring new works by Ray Lee, Makiko Nishikaze, Paul Newland, Paul Whitty, Fumiko Miyachi, Nick Fells, Ryusuke Koarishi, Paul Dibley & Yumi Hara Cawkwell

"Birdsongs" Friday 24 October 2008 at 8pm, Wiltshire Music Centre Pre-concert talk at 7pm (free to ticket holders) website
Beth WISEMAN: Birdsongs, Myriad Suite, Chitaka, Silent Geoffrey POOLE: Calligrammes d'Apollinaire, Lovesong for my Bird plus songs by John Dowland, medieval folksongs and traditional Japanese music for solo koto, including Yatsuhashi Kengyo: Midare (1685)
There is something very compelling and wonderfully expressive about Beth Wiseman’s music. In this tribute to the composer, who spent her final years here in Wiltshire and died tragically young last year, several of her finest pieces are set against music she loved. Beth’s interests were broad ranging and included are works dedicated to her by her husband Geoffrey Poole (who gives the pre-concert talk), lovely Elizabethan songs by John Dowland, haunting medieval ballads and some highly colourful music from the Japanese Edo period played on a 13-stringed koto.
"New Music Mart" - Composition Workshop with OKEANOS The Lecture Recital Room, Guildhall School of Music & Drama 2pm - 5pm on 3rd and 4th November 2008	New Music Mart Guildhall School of Music and Drama hosts the British Music Information Centre’s New Music Mart in 2008. A wide range of organisations working in new music will be represented in the Mart, to help students find out about their work in the UK and what they can offer. You will be able to listen to sample CDs of works by contemporary composers, browse scores, read composer information and repertoire lists and speak with knowledgeable staff about what their organisations have to offer. Presentation Bmic Director, Matthew Greenall, will speak about the creation of a new organisation for music and sound combining Bmic, Society for the Promotion of New Music, Contemporary Music Network and Sonic Arts Network.
Composition Workshop Alwynne Pritchard will be leading an intercollegiate composition workshop with OKEANOS as part of the New Music Mart. This is an opportunity for composers from universities and conservatoires throughout the UK to come together to hear their and each other’s pieces performed and discussed in a public forum. Featuring the following composers: Dan Cohen (RAM), Guy Bunce (Royal Holloway), Gregory Emfietzis (Brunel), Peter Moran (York), Christina Athinodorou (Royal Holloway), Ralph Bateman (York), Laurence Llewellyn (Thames Valley), Matthias Strassmueller (Bristol)
Bmic The Cutting Edge 2008 November 13th @ 8.30pm The Warehouse, Theed Street website	Rehearsing Nadja Plein's 'of heating white glass...' at the Warehouse
Elliott CARTER: Trilogy (1992): i) Bariolage, ii) Inner Song, iii) Immer Neu Nadja GABRIELA PLEIN: New Work (2008) WP*** Elliott CARTER: Gra (1987) Beth WISEMAN: Birdsongs (2000) Dai FUJIKURA: Flux (2007) UKP** Anthony POWERS: New Work (2008) WP***
Performance of Music & Eurythmy Saturday 29th November @ 7.30pm The Theatre, Rudolf Steiner House 35 Park Road, London NW1 Admission free**	Eurythmy, “visible singing”—assumes the tonal arrangement as music but reveals the musical element itself through action and specific choices within a framework of dance. It was born out of the present tonal system and not from a discipline outside music. Eurythmy is a serene and beautiful symbiosis of music and movement. To learn more about eurythmy www.eurythmywm.org.uk
Howard SKEMPTON A Healing Question (2008)***WP Nigel OSBORNE Transformations (2007) Virginia SHAW There the Eucharist, a gold sun (2007)

• 25 October, Music Hall, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Silk Street, Barbican EC2Y

Music for mezzo soprano, oboe, clarinet, viola, cello & harp

Nicola LeFanu - Lament (1988)
Elizabeth Maconchy - Reflections (1960)
Nicola LeFanu - Mira Clar Tenebras (2002)


' An intellectual art... an impassioned argument, an intense but discaplined expression of emotion.' Elizabeth Maconchy's own remarks enshrine her elegant, radical and outstanding contribution to British Music. This concert is part of the Elizabeth Maconchy Chamber Music Festival at the Guildhall School of Music, marking the centenary of her birth.

Generously supported by the Leche Trust and the Holst Foundation

• 8 August, 3 Choirs Festival, St Mary de Lode, Gloucester

Elizabeth Maconchy - Reflections
Ralph Vaughan Williams -Two Blake Songs i) Infant Joy ii) The Piper
Elizabeth Maconchy - Morning & Noon
Howard Skempton - Excursions (world premiere)
Nicola Lefanu - Songs for Jane (second performance)
Elizabeth Maconchy - Night
Gustav Holst - Two Hymns from The Rig Veda i) To the Waters ii) Hymn of the Travellers
Robin Holloway - Serenade in Db


• 28 July, Music at Leasowes Bank, Ratlinghope, Shropshire
Music for oboe, clarinet, viola & harp

Howard Skempton - Gleams & Fragments (2003)
Elizabeth Maconchy - Reflections (1960)
John Joubert - Four Images (2003)
Adrian Williams - New Work (2007)*
Ross Edwards - Ulpirra (1999)
Robin Holloway - Serenade in Db (2004)


• 17 June, Grassington Festival, Scargill House, Kettwell

OKEANOS present a colourful introduction to Japanese music. The koto (a large zither), the shakuhachi (a bamboo flute played by Zen Buddhist monks), the shamisen (three stringed lute) and sho (an imperial mouth organ) will play traditional, folk and contemporary music. The three performers will talk about these remarkable, little known instruments, and recount their experiences of learning music in Japan.

Clive Bell: shakuhachi
Melissa Holding: koto
Robin Thompson: sho and shamisen
PROGRAMME INCLUDED:
Choshi, solo for sho mouth organ.
An ancient solo from the Heian period (800-1100 AD). The sho has its own section within the court Gagaku orchestra, the oldest extant orchestral tradition in the world.

Kumoijishi, solo for shakuhachi flute.
Translated as “The Cloud And The Lion”, the title combines symbols of success and magical power. This is one of the lighter pieces from the ancient Honkyoku solo repertoire. Originating in the Zen Buddhist tradition, where they were played by monks as meditation exercises rather than as music, these anonymous pieces were notated at the end of the 19th century.

Dan-mono, duo for two kotos.
This is one of a small corpus of solo instrumental pieces from the mid 17th century. It is attributed to Yatsuhashi Kengyo, founder of of the modern koto tradition. Formally the Dan-mono consist of sections known as dan, which are variations on the basic material of the piece.

Akatafu-bushi, for voice, sanshin (Okinawan lute) and koto.
For many centuries the kingdom of Ryukyu, whose main island Okinawa lies in the subtropical south of Japan, had its own independent government and cultural traditions. Robin Thompson’s deep investigation into classical Okinawan tradition is displayed as he plays the snakeskin-covered sanshin, Okinawa’s version of the Japanese shamisen lute.

Haru No Umi, by Michio Miyagi, for shakuhachi and koto.
“The Sea In Springtime” is one of the best known pieces by Miyagi, an accomplished koto player as well as composer. He wrote it in 1925 while visiting the seaside town of Tomo No Ura, near Hiroshima in west Japan.

Dundas, by Mike Adcock, for shakuhachi and koto.
Mike Adcock is a British composer and accordionist based in Gloucestershire. He studied composition with Gavin Bryars.

Improvisation, for the trio.
All members of the Okeanos group share an interest in contemporary composition and also improvisation, whereby a unique piece can spontaneously combust before an audience’s eyes. The traditional instruments stretch their legs into new musical areas.

Hanagasa Ondo, traditional song for trio.
“The Umbrella Hat Dance”. A well known song in praise of the Yamagata area, near Toyama. “Our pride in our country rests in our aubergines, our cucumbers and our dance with hats shaped like umbrellas. Please come to where I live – the rice (so much rice, it’s like a tree) will bow down to welcome you.”

• 24 & 25 Febebruary, Jacqueline du Pré Music Building

A chance over two days for composers and performers of any ability, instrument or style to meet, discuss and have their pieces workshopped and performed by high quality musicians. This years event also includes talks and discussion on music for film.

Okeanos in collaboration with Ensemble Isis will workshop and perform new music including improvisations and works for dance and film.

OKEANOS @ Oxford Contemporary Music Series



• 18 November Jaqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford, OX4 1DY
• New music for oboe, clarinet, viola, shakuhachi, sho, shamisen & koto
‘…a kaleidoscope of vivid colours…’ The Wire
‘…never less than intriguing, and often entrancingly beautiful. Dai Fujikura’s Okeanos Breeze is a brilliantly virtuoso use of Okeanos’s rich palette…’ Ivan Hewitt The Telegraph

Dai Fujikura Touch of Breeze (2004)
Dai Fujikura Cutting Sky (2006)
Dai Fujikura Okeanos Breeze (2001)
Traditional Kumoijishi
Howard Skempton Fragments (2004)
Dan Goren New Work [WP] (2006)
Phillip Neil Martin Shattered Spectra (2001)
Akiko Ogawa Fantasia (2005)
Sadie Harrison Jinny’s Haiku [WP] (2006)
Paul Archbold Song Swarm (2005)
Traditional Choshi (Heian Period)
Dai Fujikura Rubi(co)n [UKP] (2006)
Toshi Ichiyanagi Transfiguration of Flowers II (1988)

Much more than east/west fusion, the ensemble become one ‘superinstrument’ in new music from Howard Skempton, Akiko Ogawa, Paul Archbold, including Dai Fujikura’s recently completed trilogy featuring the cult classic Okeanos Breeze. Also featuring world premieres from Dan Goren & Sadie Harrison and traditional works for shakuhachi & sho. Original & compelling soundworld.

• 9 November Bmic Cutting Edge Tour 2006 Modern Art Oxford, 30 Pembroke Street, OXFORD OX1 1BP
New music for shakuhachi & koto
Oxford’s very own “gig-in-a-gallery happening” Nightshift

Traditional Kumoijishi, ‘The Cloud & the Lion’, shakuhachi solo
Yatsuhashi Kengyo, Midare, koto solo
Mike Adcock, Dundas, shakuhachi and koto
Dan Goren, new work for shakuhachi WP
Michio Miyagi, Haru No Umi (The Sea In Springtime), shakuhachi and koto
Melissa Holding, new work for shakuhachi and koto. WP


Come along after work or before a night out on thetown and experience some of the freshest new music in the relaxed setting of MAO’s café. You can visit MAO’s international art exhibitions too – they’re open until the concerts start. We advise booking in advance as they are rather popular. Lively & engaging introductions and demonstrations of these fascinating instruments. Beautiful music for koto & shakuhachi played by virtuosi Clive Bell & Melissa Holding

• 20 July CAMBRIDGE SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL
Music for oboe, clarinet, viola & harp

Howard Skempton Gleams & Fragments (2003)
Elizabeth Maconchy Reflections (1960)
Robin Holloway Serenade in Db (2004)


• 7 July CITY OF LONDON FESTIVAL 2006, St Lawrence Jewry, Gresham Street
Music for sho, koto, oboe, clarinet, viola, shakuhachi & shamisen
Broadcast on BBC Radio 3 Hear and Now

[REVIEWS] of this concert

Dai Fujikura - Touch of Breeze
Dai Fujikura - Cutting Sky***
Dai Fujikura - Okeanos Breeze
Judith Bingham -The Cruelty of the Gods***
Toshi Ichiyanagi Hoshi no wa (galaxy)
Mai Fukasawa - Forgotten Psalm***
Toshi Ichiyanagi - Transfiguration of Flowers II**

"I fervently hope that there will be an opportunity for audiences farther afield to savour what these adventurous musicians are now doing, and its real originality. Meanwhile, Okeanos Plus should not be missed at City of London Festival on July 7th." Musical Pointers - [REVIEWS]

OKEANOS PLUS - SPNM - HIND SIGHT series directed by Rolf Hind

• 7 June, Spitalfields Festival, Wilton's Music Hall, London E1 8JB
• 8 June, York Late Music Festival, St Margaret's Church, Walmgate, York YO1 9TL
• 13 June, RNCM Manchester, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9RD

Western and Japanese sounds combine to explore traditional and contemporary repertoire for a mixed ensemble. Soloists Etsuko Takezawa and Clive Bell join leading contemporary music ensemble Okeanos.

The ensemble ran a "writing for" workshop on 15 November 2005. Okeanos and guest Japanese artists, gave composers the chance to learn about Japanese instruments and how to write for them.

Part of SPNM's Hind Sight series in collaboration with Asian Music Circuit.

PERFORMERS:
Etsuko Takezawa, koto/bass koto/shamisen
Clive Bell, shakuhachi
Melissa Holding, koto
Robin Thompson, sho/shamisen
Sally Pryce, harp
Bridget Carey, viola
Pete Furniss, clarinets/perc
Jinny Shaw, oboe/oboe d’amore

PROGRAMME (for all 3 events):
Dai Fujikura - Okeanos Breeze
Nadja Plein - Sun Sleeping on River-Waves (awake at the waterfall) (world premiere)
Traditional
Christian Mason - under heaven: sometimes... (world premiere)
Toshio Hosokawa - Fragmente 1
Duncan MacLeod - Graffiti (world premiere)
Etsuko Takezawa - new work (world premiere)
Traditional shakuhachi solo
Basil Athanasiadis - Ithaka (world premiere)

Rian Evans The Guardian (5th September 2005)

OKEANOS
2nd September 2005, Ewenny Priory
Vale of Glamorgan Festival
Review ****

"At Ewenny Priory, the two premieres were given by the group Okeanos were for oboe, clarinet, viola and harp. It is a combination in which the viola’s role is both distinctive and tricky, since it shares some of the clarinet’s lower register, while its plaintive timbre echoes the oboe.

The title of Akiko Ogawa’s Interweaving indicates her solution to the question of structure: the writing was fluent, with moments of considerable drama, but it was most effective in the slower final section where implicit tensions were gently resolved.

The Serenade in D flat by Robin Holloway – Ogawa’s teacher – was partly based on his incidental music written in 2003 for Racine’s Phèdre. Holloway extended the colour palette by having oboist double on cor anglais, its resonance immensely striking. A passionate trio with cor, clarinet and viola in the fourth movement was the logical outcome, yet this was marred by the harp’s rather postured episodic interventions, ultimately highlighting the uneasy balance between Holloway’s more sharply contoured material and his trademark forays into a more indulgent Romanticism."

Clive Bell THE WIRE

BMIC cutting edge series 2005 - The Warehouse
Joe Cutler - Songs of the Kioti
Paul Archbold - new work (WP)
Anthony Powers - Interludes i-v
Howard Skempton - Fragments
Akiko Ogawa - Fantasia (WP)
Dai Fujikura - Touch of Breeze
Gabriel Jackson - A Piece of Sky
Phillip Neil Martin - Shattered Spectra
Yumi Hara Cawkwell - Moon viewing in Lee Valley (WP)
Dai Fujikura - Okeanos Breeze (2001)

"The largely female Okeanos quintet has a unique selling point: traditional Japanese instruments are offered to composers alongside oboe, clarinet and viola. The result is a kaleidoscope of vivid colours and some wonderfully lyrical writing. Judging by tonight’s collection of concise works by nine British and Japanese composers, the project is flourishing.

Jinny Shaw’s mellifluous oboe starts the evening on a balcony over our heads, unravelling Joe Cutler’s “Songs Of The Kioti”, inspired by images in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel An Artist Of The Floating World. “Song Swan”, Paul Archbold’s brand new piece, integrates the koto into a quartet that ambles through delicious chords – a woodwind section with a hint of acid from the koto. A sudden, well-timed entry from Robin Thompson’s sho mouth organ intensifies the colours further.
There’s more patient chordal work in Howard Skempton’s “Fragments”. Skempton, a pupil of Cornelius Cardew, is famous for mixing simplicity and wry humour, a combo that makes him, for my money, Britain’s most beguiling composer. “Fragments” sounds like a lost Scottish air, heard years before and now recreated from memory by Japanese court musicians.

Melissa Holding’s koto sits at the centre of what Okeanos are doing, both literally at the front of the stage, and in the sense that her coolly poised, subtle playing underpins so much of the music. In some hands the koto can be twanging and aggressive, angrily rattling the bars of its traditional confines. But Holding’s approach goes deeper, finding a kind of ancient wisdom in this Japanese equivalent of the Western piano.

Young Japanese composer Akiko Ogawa places memories of her mother’s koto playing at the centre of her “Fantasia”. It’s a charming piece full of pastel shades, driven along by swooping koto glissandi. Gabriel Jackson refers to his “A Piece Of Sky (After Yoko Ono)” as an ‘instruction piece’. Tolerance and the fragility of the planet are the ideas underlying this unashamedly pretty composition. Seductive melodies and carefully timed ambient percussion make Jackson’s music irresistible – it’s too robust to be kitsch, and recalls Harold Budd’s pursuit of beauty.

Bridget Carey throws herself bodily into an earthy, exhilarating viola solo which sounds informed by traditional styles. The composer is Phillip Neil Martin, recently returned from studying Gagaku court music in Japan. Pete Furniss’s solo clarinet (standing in for Okeanos’s usual Kate Romano) makes a fluent and convincing case for Anthony Powers’s “Interludes”: astringent, haiku-like snatches inspired by Wittgenstein. Finally, an Okeanos signature piece: Dai Fujikura’s “Okeanos Breeze”. Full of tension, colour and ensemble drama, the work is recognisably Japanese from a mile off, but it was Fujikura’s first work to include traditional instruments."