Milian Mori and Mitakadai Quartet

Co-organized by the Embassy along with Avex Creator Agency /WALL_ALTERNATIVE, Japan’s leading music agency Avex’s art division, this groundbreaking performance combined traditional Japanese shō with contemporary electronic music, creating a unique fusion of music, culture, and technology. 

All photos by Basil Kräher

This collaborative performance aimed to showcase the beauty of both the shō and Milian Mori’s digital music thorugh a fusion of Tokyo’s ambient sounds, electronic effects, shō’s ethereal tones, and visual elements inspired by Junya Ishigami’s Plaza. 

With plans for an album release and more tours in the works, this is just the beginning for this talented group.  

Stay tuned for more innovative and inspiring performances from Swiss artists! 

All photos by Basil Kräher

Premiere: Milian Mori + Mitakadai Quartet
Date and Time: July 1st, 2024, doors at 18:30 pm. / starts at 19:00 pm.
Venue: WALL_alternative (4 Chome-2-4 Nishiazabu, Minato City, Tokyo 106-0031)

Shō: Ai Saotome, Hanako Nakamura, Remi Miura and Yuki Deai
Electronics: Milian Mori
Composition: Milian Mori with the help of Mitakadai Quartet

Programm:
Movement 1
Interlude
Movement 2
Interlude
Movement 3

Co-organizer: WALL_alternative, Embassy of Switzerland in Japan / Vitality.Swiss

Milian Mori is a composer and digital artist based in Switzerland. As part of his solo work, he integrates dance, algorithms, pixels, and club music. In the last 13 years Mori has developed a musical language that aims to expand, project and reinterpret dance music’s common vocabulary. Milian shares his deep interest in combining mathematics, geometry and data with emotion, dance and fulfillment: technology meets nature, binary meets fluids, algorithm meets spirituality, dualism meets triality, machine meets human, randomness meets self- similarity. All of his works are trying to open the space which exceeds dualism. His art doesn’t want to answer, nor does it aim to question.

Ai Saotome (shō): Ai Saotome graduated from Kunitachi College of Music in 2007 with a major in composition. She studied shō under the Ohno Tadaaki and Mayumi Miyata and joined Reigakusha in 2011. Ai has performed at significant events such as Japonismes 2018 in Paris and the Japan Society Performing Arts 2019 in New York.

Hanako Nakamura (shō): Hanako Nakamura completed her master’s degree in music at Kunitachi College of Music. In 2006, she was selected as a trainee under the domestic program for upcoming artists by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. She is a member of Reigakusha, contributing her expertise in shō performance. 

Remi Miura (shō): Born in Tokyo, Remi Miura studied musicology at Kunitachi College of Music, where she developed a fascination with the shō. She studied under Mayumi Miyata, Hideaki Bunno, and Sukeyasu Shiba. Remi began her career as a gagaku musician in 1994 while still in college. After graduating, she joined Reigakusha, performing globally at venues and festivals such as the National Theatre, Suntory Summer Festival, and ULTIMA Music Festival.

Yuki Deai (shō): Yuki Deai studied shō under Tadaki Ohno, General Director of the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency, and Ohno Tadazumi. Yuki focuses on expanding new possibilities through the shō.

Support: Burgergemeinde Bern, Vitality.Swiss, Swissnex, Kanton Bern, Kanton St.Gallen, Stadt Bern, Stadt St.Gallen

Video Credits
Production Company: JKD Collective, Director / Ex-Producer: Bruce Ikeda (JKD Collective), Producer: Kei Okazaki (JKD Collective), Production Manager: Kanchi Takano, Director of Photography: Chris Rudz, 2nd Camera: Dixon Wang, Assistant Camera: Javier Sauve, Sound Engineer: Takahiro Yamaguchi, Stylist: Arata Aoyama, Make-up Artist: Motoki Saika

Organizers:
WALL_alternative is an alternative space with a counter bar and an art gallery where Avex exhibits and sells contemporary art and other works in Nishiazabu, Tokyo, where music and culture intersect with art at the core. With a counter bar featuring natural wines, this is an evening hangout where a diverse range of people organically mingle.

The Embassy of Switzerland in Japan / Vitality.Swiss
In 2024, the Vitality.Swiss program celebrates the 160th anniversary of bilateral relation between Switzerland and Japan on the road to Expo 2025. This year, 2024, will host “Swiss Vitality Days” to celebrate the 160th anniversary with several events. For more information check the vitality.swiss web site.