FESTIVE OPERA GALA EVENING ON 5 MAY
News публикувана на: 02.05.2016
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Festive opera gala evening on 5 May
On 5 May at 19.00 the Stara Zagora Opera will host a festive Opera Gala Evening with a rich program of the most beautiful and popular arias and duets from operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Charles Gounod, Georges Bizet, Hector Berlioz, Jules Masne, Gaetano Donizetti. The concert will be conducted by the emotional Maestro Shungo Moriyama from Japan. The audience will enjoy performances by four soloists from the Land of the Rising Sun, Ai Yakura, Kumiko Toyanaga, Yukako Hoshi and Kenji Wakaya. Kamelia Stoycheva, soloist of the State Opera Stara Zagora and the orchestra of the State Opera Stara Zagora will also take part.
The conductor
SHUNGO MORIYAMA has been a regular guest conductor of the Sofia Philharmonic since 2006. He made his conducting debut in 1977, his first overseas tour was to Bulgaria as a guest of the Sofia Philharmonic in 1986, followed by numerous tours. From 1990 his contacts with New Zealand began - he conducted the Youth Orchestra and the Christian Church Symphony Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 1994, and was the first Japanese conductor to be invited for a full season with the Royal New Zealand Ballet. He has specialised in conducting ballets of Russian original choreographic versions with Konstantin Sergeyev, the leading conductor of the Russian Ballet Academy of the Mariinsky Theatre.
He conducted Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the MAV Orchestra - Hungary, with an international choir from Hungary, Poland, Germany, Austria and Japan, during the European Picnic Memorial Ceremony in Sopron (Hungary) in 1997, a concert which was broadcast by the Hungarian Duna TV for all European countries.
After the performance of Swan Lake at the Mussorgsky Theatre, he was invited for four years as principal guest conductor of the St. Petersburg Congress Orchestra. He received the diploma of Honorary Member of the St Petersburg Philharmonic Society in 2000 after the successful performance of the Ninth Symphony in the Great Hall of the St Petersburg Philharmonic, and two years later he was invited to conduct a concert on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Philharmonic Society. He has also conducted performances of the Japanese Ballet at the Alexandria Theatre in St Petersburg, the Drama Theatre in Pskov and the Academic Theatre in Novgorod on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of St Petersburg in 2003.
His performance of the Taketori Story Concerto and the Buddha Symphony by Koichi Kishi in 2002 was a huge success. He became particularly popular with his performance of the Buddha Symphony in front of the statue of the Great Buddha at Todaiji Temple in Nara, in memory of the monk Kokai who restored this world cultural monument.
Since 1997, he has annually organized a concert with Japanese soloists during the Sofia Music Weeks, and since 2004 he has conducted an orchestral workshop with the Sofia Philharmonic.
Last year, on 31 October, Shungo Moriyama conducted the final concert of the winners of the 5th International Competition for Young Violinists "Emil Kamilarov" in Sofia. In December, the conductor performed a Christmas concert on the stage of the Stara Zagora Opera.
The soloists from Japan
Kumiko Toyonaga /soprano/ is a graduate of the Vocal Course in the Department of Music at Soai College, Osaka. She also completed a postgraduate course at the college, after which she studied at the Kansai Nikikai Opera Organization. She specialized with Takako Inagaki, Pugh-Roger, Bruno dal Monte and Kosuke Taguchi. She has participated in National TV and Radio programs, concerts and performances of Hiugo Prefecture, Nikikai Opera, etc.
In 2012 and 2013 he gave concerts as a soloist of the International New Symphony Orchestra in Lviv, Ukraine, at the Mozarthaus Bösendorfer Hall, Vienna. In 2015 he was a guest artist at the Mirbachov Palace, Bratislava-Slovakia with the Bratislava Chamber Musicians. She participated in a chamber concert with Piotr Cegielski-concertmaster of the Warsaw National Philharmonic during his visit to Japan.
She is a member of the Shikoku Nikikai.
Yukako Hoshi /mezzo-soprano/ comes from Fukushima, Japan. After completing a vocal course at Kunitachi College of Music, Tokyo, she defended her doctorate at Osaka University of the Arts. She participated in the master class of Prof. Kurt Widmer at the Vocal Academy in Wörgl, Austria and in the master class of Prof. Evie Heilmann in Bredelar, Germany.
She has participated in numerous concerts with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra during the Sofia Music Weeks Festival, the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra /Beethoven's Ninth Symphony/, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine, the Youth Orchestra, and the Firsic Orchestra for their 10th concert in Fukushima - as soloist of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, in support of the reconstruction efforts following the earthquake in Japan.
He has received numerous prestigious awards from competitions and musical performances.
Kenji Wakai /tenor/ graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts with a Master's degree. While still a student, he made his debut with the solo tenor part in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, followed by engagements in Handel's Messiah and Mozart's Coronation Mass in University concerts.
After graduation he worked in Austria, where he performed the solo parts in sacred and cantata-oratorio works in various cities. In 2002 he performed the solo part in Mozart's Requiem with the Bucharest Philharmonic. During this period he added to his repertoire the leading roles from the operas The Magic Flute, The Village Honour, the operetta Viennese Blood, etc. In May 2004 he performed one of the main roles and at the same time was the producer of the performance of the operetta The Bat by Strauss. Since 2008, Kenji Wakai has been responsible for casting comic operas for the New York Symphony. This contributes to the international and multi-cultural exchange of Kagawa Prefecture, where he lives. He gave solo recitals at Teressa Takamatsu in 1996, Shido Hall in 2010, Mitoyo City Executive Plaza and Oji Hall and Ginza Tokyo in 2014.
In 2000, Kenji Wakai continued his studies at the University of Graz, Austria and in Munich - he received a scholarship for his studies from the Ministry of Culture of Japan.
He was awarded an incentive prize at the Takamatsu Competition in 2001, won the Blue Solaris Award in 2006, and was awarded the prestigious Arts & Cultural Award in 2010.
Kenji Wakai is the deputy director of Shikoku Nikikai and professor of Kagawa University .
Ai Yakura /soprano/ graduated from Osaka University College of Music. She began her career in college, singing in various concerts and for the Wakayama Art Festival. He initiated his own project "Wakayama Opera", produced operas and concerts with young singers from Kansai /"Madame Butterfly", "Tosca", "La Traviata", etc., and performed the main roles in these opera titles. Ai Yakura organizes numerous concerts and performances in non-traditional venues. Since 2016, she has presented an opera every month at Mokuren Cafe. She is also actively involved in vocal pedagogy.