The 24th Tokyo Summer Festival finished successfully!

Egberto Gismonti Orchestra Concert

Karaja Indians

Tuareg Musicians

The theme Forest Echoes / Desert Voices hosted 12 programs and 13 performances
The internationally renowned pianist and guitarist Egberto Gismonti gave the debut of the 24th Tokyo Summer Festival 2008. Under the baton of Maestro Ryusuke Numajiri, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra performed Gismonti’s diverse orchestra work in front of an enthusiastic audience. Furthermore the Brazilian multi-instrumentalist presented his unique musical world during two solo concerts.
From the interior of Brazil nine indigenous people belonging to the Karaja tribe traveled for the first time from the Amazon to Japan in order to share their singing and dancing rites on stage. Impressed by their colorful feather costumes spectators were invited to dance on stage, as well as to participate in a body painting workshop.
From the other extreme in terms of natural environment, a group of tuareg musicians living in the south Algerian Sahara seduced with a colorful program: the rare monochord instrument Imzad, various kinds of Tinde percussions and amazing sword dances.
Jointly Karaja Indians and Tuareg musicians participated at the music camp in the forest of Okutama where participants danced around a camp fire in the middle of the nature. The Japanese contribution came from the Toshita Kagura Preservation Association, Miyazaki Prefecture, who reproduced their precious Kagura tradition for the first time outside of the original place and left the patient audience after a six hours concert deeply amazed.
The festival was rounded up by a gathering of the young generation of Japanese artists, among them several of the Arion Award winners, who dynamically made the Gala concert to a huge success.
As in precedent years, the festival included four participatory performances and nine related performances according to this year’s theme.