Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra to perform Akira Ifukube`s "Ritmica Ostinata" in March 2008

VERY early news of the live concert performance in Kalamazoo, Michigan Author: Ed Godziszewski Official Site: Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra Special Thanks to Kazuo Sumiya Mark your calendars now. It may be a year away, but Akira Ifukube fans will have the rare chance of listening to one of the maestros premier classical pieces, "Ritmica Ostinata", performed live by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra on March 28, 2008 and featuring the keyboard skills of Reiko Yamada. Presented as part of a musical tribute to Japan, Ifukubes piece will highlight a program which will also feature pieces by Toru Takemitsu and Paul Hindemith. Reiko Yamada is currently the principal keyboard artist for the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, having visited Japan most recently in 2006 for performing the "Ritmica Ostinata", a very demanding piece for any keyboard artist, at a memorial concert for Ifukube. After hearing this piece in the 1980s, Yamada studied under Ifukube at the Tokyo College of Musicology where Ifukube was the head of the Ethnomusicology Dept. Her fascination with "Ritmica Ostinata" led her to discuss this piece at length with the maestro many times over the years. The website akiraifukube.org has published a fine interview with Ms. Yamada in which she discusses her experiences with maestro Ifukube. Written for piano and orchestra in 1961, this concerto prominently features piano in a rather unique manner, the piano serving as more of a percussion instrument. Ifukubes signature repetitive phrases (referred to as ostinato) dominate the piece, creating a fiercely ritualistic tone evocative of Japans aborigines, the Ainu people, whose culture strongly influenced Ifukubes musical sensibilities. For those who may not be familiar with Ifukubes classical music, this piece is a wonderful introduction to the maestros classical compositions, and it contains enough power and energy to satisfy those who only know of his film music. Tickets for the upcoming concert season of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra go on sale in August 2007. The concert will take place on the grounds of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, about a 3-hour drive from the Chicago and Detroit areas. Time to start making those travel plans!