Music Concerts by Kuricorder Quartet

Concerts for general:
Fri 01 Nov 2013, 8 pm
VOV Theatre
–
Sat 02 Nov 2013, 8 pm
Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam
—
Concerts for family (Everybody (even a o years old baby) can join the concert):
Sat 02 Nov 2013, 2 pm
Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam

From Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam:

In celebration of the Japan – Vietnam Friendship Year 2013, the Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam proudly presents music concerts by a popular Japanese band “Kuricorder Quartet” on Friday 1 & Saturday 2 November 2013 in Hanoi.

Kuricorder Quartet is a polyphonic multi-instrumental ensemble formed in 1994 by four Japanese virtuosos who are all composers/arrangers as well as masters of a variety of musical instruments.

They have become known in Japan to a wider public through their musical contributions to visual works such as the NHK’s TV program “Pythagora-Switch”, the animation film “La Maison en Petits Cubes” (winner of Academy Award for Animated Short Film in 2009), and collaborations with a variety of famous Japanese singers.

As the quartet’s name implies, their main instruments are recorders (“Kuri” means “Chestnut” in Japanese and “corder” bit comes from “recorder”), from the small soprano, to the giant great bass, via alto and tenor, and the ukulele. What makes them unique is their sincere attempts to create innovative music from simple combinations of such humble musical instruments.

The music of Kuricorder Quartet is, according to Paul Fisher, the founder of Far Side Music in London, “delightfully unclassifiable, encompassing jazz, folk, blues, classical, medieval, funk among others,” and it is a “rich, warm, polyphonic tapestry of sounds.”

Unclassifiable maybe, but we hope their first-ever concerts in Hanoi will bring smile on your face, through their relaxed, joyous, and brilliantly played songs.

The concerts will be held three times, all free admissions, two times for general, at VOV Theatre (58 Quan Su, Hanoi) from 20:00 on Friday 1 November and at the courtyard of the Japan Foundation (27 Quang Trung, Hanoi) from 20:00 on Saturday 2 November. One more concert is a unique concert for family, inviting all generations of children from 0 years old, at the courtyard of the Japan Foundation from 14:00 on Saturday 2 November.

Free tickets are available at the Japan Foundation from 14:00 on Friday 18 October.

Kuricorder Quartet
(From left to right)
Masaki Kurihara – soprano recorder, melodica, crumhorn, etc
Yoshiyuki Kawaguchi – alto recorder, bodhran, saxophone, etc
Kenji Kondo – tenor recorder, guitar, ukulele, etc
Takero Sekizawa – great bass recorder, tuba, jews harp, etc

Kuricorder Quartet is a quite brilliant, rather eccentric multi-instrumental group from Japan. Never in the history of music has the humble recorder, (kuri by the way is the Japanese for ‘chestnut’, the corder bit comes from recorder) sounded this fresh and exciting. And never would you have thought the recorder, from the small soprano, to the giant great bass, via alto and tenor, this capable of playing the most innovative of music.

Pythagora Switch Opening Theme

For more information, visit Japan Foundation’s website.

Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam 27 Quang Trung Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội Tel: 3944 7419 www.jpf.org.vn