A celebratory bouquet of flowers stands at the entrance of Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall in honor of the Akira Ifukube concert. Photo by Brett Homenick.
On July 10, I was privileged to be invited to attend an Akira Ifukube concert held at Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall. Thanks to Erik Homenick, the webmaster of AkiraIfukube.org, I was able to reserve a ticket for the performance. And what a performance it was!
Yours truly with Kiwami Ifukube, the late composer's son.
Before the concert started, and during the intermission, I was fortunate to meet all three of Akira Ifukube's children. (I'd met Kyoko Ifukube at several other events over the years, but this was my first time to meet Kiwami and Reiko). All three of the Ifukube children were extremely polite. Kiwami happily snapped pictures throughout the day.
Kyoko Ifukube poses with her daughter, Itsumo. Photo by Brett Homenick.
As for the concert itself, it was extraordinary. Admittedly, I don't know a fraction of the information that Erik knows about Ifukube and his music, so I'd leave any critique to him. But he was impressed with the concert, touting it as even better than the previous one two years ago. That's certainly good enough for me.
Posing with Reiko Ifukube.
After the concert, I was invited to attend a dinner with Kiwami Ifukube, Erik, and a few other VIPs. The dinner lasted a few hours, and a great time was had by all. Kiwami certainly seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.
Kiwami Ifukube during the VIP dinner. Photo by Brett Homenick.
Following that dinner, Erik and I joined concert pianist Reiko Yamada (who wowed the audience with her performance) and Heisei Godzilla series conductor Satoshi Imai for drinks at a nearby cafe.
Satoshi Imai (second from the left), Erik (third from the left), Reiko Yamada (third from the right), and yours truly pose for a group photo.
After that, Erik, Reiko, and I wandered around Kawasaki. We even stopped by Kaiju Sakaba, but unfortunately it was already in the process of closing. Maybe next time!
Erik poses with Kiwami and Toru Ifukube. Photo by Brett Homenick.
I must give a big thanks to Erik, without whom I could not have attended the concert or joined the VIP dinner. Many thanks also to all three of Ifukube's children (Kiwami, Kyoko, and Reiko) who were all generous with their time. Congratulations to Reiko Yamada for another outstanding performance!
No comments:
Post a Comment