TOP PAGE >> Programs >> Cultural Capital of Europe Luxembourg 2007

As of July 2007

N.B. The program below remains subject to additions and changes.

Music Soprano Concert: "Japanese and European Travels in Music" Date： February 7 Place： Bank of Luxembourg Hall Appearing： Yuko Ishii （soprano）, Aya Hasegawa （violin）, Yumi Uchida （piano） With a program consisting of Japanese and Western music, this recital placed the soprano voice at its center. Translations and commentary in French were distributed to the audience for the Japanese compositions featured. This allowed the audience not only to enjoy the melody, but also to appreciate the meaning of the lyrics and gain an opportunity for a deeper understanding of Japanese music. Violin pieces were creatively inserted into the program so that the audience would not tire of soprano performances alone, and the European audience with a fine ear for music awarded the performance with great applause.

music Piano breaker in Luxembourg: Performance by Moriya and Keito Saito (pianists) Date： March 8 Venue： the Luxembourg Conservatoire de Musique Performer： （Moriya and Keito Saito） Piano recital by the two-brother piano unit Les , made up of Moriya and Keito Saito, graduates of the Luxembourg Conservatoire de Musique now resident in Japan. The pair is highly regarded for their playing style which overturns orthodox notions of the instrument with their free-wheeling, dynamic combination on a single piano. That "the piano sings, the piano dances" is perfectly apt of their impassioned sound that transformed the auditorium of their alma mater into a soulful space enjoyed by the children and all other age groups in attendance.

Music Kijima Taiko Performance Dates： June 10-11 Places： Trier （Germany） Diekirch Secondary School (Luxembourg) A traditional Japanese taiko drumming group based in the village of Kijimadaira in Nagano prefecture, Kijima Taiko currently consists of 14 schoolgirls, ranging from the fourth year of primary school to the final year of high school, working to build themselves into "big drumming from a small village". Extending their energetic activities to joint performances with jazz musicians and dance groups, they are opening new frontiers in the world of Japanese drumming. In addition to a concert in Trier, Germany, as part of the Cultural Capital of Europe Luxembourg 2007, they also performed at the Diekirch Secondary School in Luxembourg, which is a sister school of the Kijimadaira Middle School, and conducted exchange activities there. They received a warm welcome from the local students and strengthened the relationship between the two schools through music.

Traditional Culture Bonsai Weekend Dates： June 15-17 Bonsai Frenn Minett-Deifferdang , which works to spread interest in bonsai culturing in Luxembourg, held bonsai demonstrations and workshops. The general public participated in bonsai creation in an informal setting and also had an opportunity to experience the spiritual culture behind bonsai.

Traditional Culture: Music Japanese Village Installation at International Village, Cultural Capital of Europe Yukyu Taiko Nagaoka Seiyukai Performance and Presentation of Ikebana, Japanese martial arts and Other Traditional Cultural Activities Dates： June 22,23,30, July 1,August 19 ※Yukyu Taiko Nagaoka Seiyukai's Website is here. A variety of traditional Japanese cultural activities were presented at the International Village installed at the Cultural Capital of Europe Luxembourg 2007. The Japanese drumming group Yukyu Taiko Nagaoka Seiyukai from Nagano prefecture performed at the opening ceremony. Numerous other groups also participated, demonstrating ikebana, bonsai, kendo and other traditional cultural activities to the general public. The people of Europe enjoyed this opportunity to experience the traditional cultures of Japan.

Fine Art The Carpet from the Sky Project by Tsuyoshi Ozawa Date： September 17 - October 6 / October 22 - November 9 (closed October 7 -21) Venue： Halle Paul Wurth, Urban Lab Space Place： Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Exhibition title： Urban Lab Trans(ient)City Project While visiting Tibet's Mt. Kailash, a sacred site for the Buddhist, Bon, Hindu and Jain confessions, Tsuyoshi Ozawa collected discarded waste (and particularly plastic bottles) on the mountain. Ozawa then engaged a Chinese firm to recycle the plastic bottles into polyester fiber for the production of a carpet. He previously carried out his “The Carpet from the Sky” project at the shore of a Japan, Korea and China/Luxembourg City. The carpets from each of these locales incorporate the social issues confronting each of them. As a place for people to gather, each carpet should then become for many people an opportunity to turn their attention to the many global challenges we face -- population growth, pollution, energy issues, ethnic strife, expanding economic differentials.

Fine Art Media artist, Takumi Endo Title : TypeTrace Form : Interactive Installation Year : 2007 Venue : Theatre National de Chaillot/Paris, France Date Program September 13-17 Installation [TypeTrace]+[Phonethica Rondo-D] in “European forum for emerging creation, Luxembourg2007” (Neumuenster Abbey/ /Luxembourg) ※Takumi Endo's website is here. ※The programs in Japan are here. ※The programs in Europe and other places are here. In 2007, Paris-based media artist Takumi Endo had been working in Prague (Czech Rep.) for 6 month in the framework of “MapXXL-Pepinieres Europeennes pour Jeunes Artistes” and He will exhibit “TypeTrace”, a interactive installation at “Neumuenster Abbey” in “European forum for emerging creation”, Luxembourg2007. Hoping for the further development of his activities, the EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee supports the activities of Takumi Endo throughout the year.

Architecture Student Attendance at Trans(ient) City/Atelier Bow-Wow Workshop Workshop of UrbanLab Dates： September 17 to October 21 Place： Espace Paul Wurth Japan participant： Atelier Bow-Wow Students from Japan： Chie Konno (Master 2 student of Graduate School of Tokyo Institute of Techonology) Naho Maki (Master 1 student of Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba) ※For the Trans(ient) City Urban Labo project, click here: Architecture Program Comprising three separate projects -- Urban Lab, a research project on the past and future of cities; Urban Landmarks, a project on art and architecture; and Community Life, a joint program with local communities -- the Trans(ient) City operation seeks to cultivate thinking on cities and architecture from a broad range of perspectives. Atelier Bow-Wow is a participant in the Urban Lab program. Together with architecture students from Rouen, France, Atelier Bow-Wow held a workshop titled Luxembourg Intercity Living on urban spaces and the duality of urban lifestyles, informed by the theme "housing typologies and migrations in Luxembourg". The EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee provided support for participation in this program by two Japanese students. We hope that their opportunities for dialog and working jointly with students in Rouen will provide much input for stimulus and suggestion.

Traditional Art RakuGaku "Noh・Gaku2B" （Noh "Matsumushi", Gaku2B） This program is the collaboration between Japanese traditional art "Noh" and Occidental music, which Ken Maeda produces. Noh players and Spanish guitarist join it. In "Gaku2B" they choose some　Japanese traditional poem "Waka" with a theme of love out of "Kokinwakashu", and express them combining classical music by J.S. Bach with modern music by B. Britten. Noh"Matsumushi" is also presented, besides they will talk about "Noh" and show how to wear Noh’s costume. In 2007 this concert will be held in Luxembourg, which is European culture capital, France and Germany. Date,Place： October 10,Schloss Bourglinster October 11,Theater Esch Performer： Regisseur／Ken Maeda Players： Guitarist／Marco Socias Noh-player／ Shite-Kohzaburoh Hashimoto、 Shite/Tsure-Koji Hashimoto Kohken-Atsuyoshi Asano Jiutai-Michiaki Asai Fue-Ryo Tsuchiya Kotsuzumi-Tatsushi Narita Ohtsuzumi-Hisato Ibayashi Related program：Explanation of Noh and demonstration of Noh’s costume Date,Place： October 10, Schloss Bourglinster ※Rakugaku’s Website is here. ※Performances in France and Germany are here.

Architecture “Parallel Nippon” architecture show The exhibit welcomed many visitors. Dates： October 13-21 Venue： LUXEXPO Exhibition & Congress Center (Kirchberg, Luxembourg) PARALLEL NIPPON focused on Japanese architecture of last ten years(1996-2006). This exhibition proposed to compare and showcase these various architectural efforts by means of four thematic section [Urban Cycles: Center and Periphery], [Life Cycles: From Cradle to Grave], [Culture Cycles: Environment], [Living Cycles: Conformity or Diversion]. Many figures in architecture and ordinary citizens visited the exhibit and enjoyed examples of Japanese architectural beauty differing from European form in their use of curves. The show was a valuable opportunity for local residents to experience contemporary Japanese culture and society through architecture.

Music vocal ensemble Cappella “Missa de Beata Virgine” vocal ensemble Cappella Date： October 25, 28 Venue： Oct. 25...Chapel of Walferdange (Walferdange) Oct. 28... l'Abbaye St. Maurice (Clervaux) Performer： vocal ensemble Cappella ※Website of vocal ensemble Cappella is here. Since its formation in 1997, the vocal ensemble Cappella has focused mainly on Gregorian chants and sacred music of the Renaissance Franco-Flemish School. This time, they will perform gregorian chant and polyphonic mass by the greatist composer of Renaissance music, Josquin des Prez, according to a liturgical order of a mass. In the second part Cappella will sing some beautiful Marian motes from a service of a Marian vesper. The people in Luxembourg will enjoy their music and will find a new point of view of the Renaissance music.

Architecture NEW TRENDS of ARCHITECTURE in EUROPE and ASIA-PACIFIC 2006-2007 Luxembourg Exhibition Opening Reception in Tokyo Exhibition Room in Tokyo Date： November 23-December 15 Commissioners： Winy Mass,Riken Yamamoto Theme： Agenda Architects： R & Sie (n) (France) , B.I.G. Bjarke Ingels Group (Denmark), NL architects (the Netherlands), Enric Ruiz-Geli/Cloud 9 (Spain), Andreas Angelidakis (Greece), Polaris architects (Luxembourg), DOGMA｜OFFICE (Italy), Zizi & Yoyo arhitektid (Estonia), Taira Nishizawa Architects (Japan), MADA s.p.a.m. (China), Edge Design Institute Ltd. (Hong Kong), Mass Studies (Korea), Duangrit Bunnag (Thailand), Sean Godsell Architects (Australia), Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects (Australia) Traveling exhibition： Exhibition in Tokyo：May 11-27 Exhibition in Melbourne：June 20-July 28 Exhibition in Perth：August 17-September 30 ※NEW TRENDS of ARCHITECTURE in EUROPE and ASIA-PACIFIC 2006-2007 website is here. ※The exhibition in Patras 2006 is here. The "New Trends of Architecture in Europe and Asia-Pacific 2006-2007" exhibition that enjoyed such success at the Cultural Capital of Europe Patras in 2006 also visited Tokyo. Launched in 2001, this project each year identifies a number of young architects from various countries and features them in exhibitions, symposia and lectures held in different countries, including at the Cultural Capital of Europe. Large numbers gathered for the opening of the Tokyo exhibition and enjoyed the work shown by the up-and-coming architects. The symposia and university lectures also drew large audiences. Heated debates generated excited the audiences and proved stimulating for the students coming into contact with the cutting edge of the world of architecture. We are confident that the traveling exhibitions in Australia and Luxembourg will be successful too.

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