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Kawai Holds Orchestral Concert, Oshii Hosts Radio Show
posted on by Egan Loo
The Nippon Cultural Broadcasting radio station in Tokyo has announced on October 11 that composer Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell movies, Death Note movies) will hold a full-orchestra concert on November 4, and that world-renowned director Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell movies, Urusei Yatsura series) will host a talk show on movies this fall. In the press conference attended by Oshii and Kawai, the producers described Kenji Kawai Concert 2007 as the "first and probably only" concert of Kawai's works with a full orchestra. The Pacifico Yokohama National Hall in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture will host the concert.
The concert marks Kawai's 20th year in composing music. In addition to composing the Ghost in the Shell movies, the Mobile Police Patlabor franchise, and the live-action Death Note movies, Kawai has also composed for games and his own original albums. The concert will feature an orchestra of over 100 members, as well as many of Kawai's past collaborators including the folk chorus singers Nishida-Shachū, taiko drum master Hiroshi Motofuji, Polish soprano Elzbieta Towarnicka, and vocalists Miu Sakamoto and Yumi Kojima. Kawai himself will perform on stage with a guitar.
The press conference also announced Mamoru Oshii's World Cinema-Cinema program, a talk show that will discuss actors, music, and other movie-related topics. Oshii is planning to invite surprise guests and incorporate Kawai's music into the program's soundtrack. He noted that Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki has also just started his own radio show, and that the two might plan to collaborate on a joint show.
Sources: animeanime.jp, Sports Hōchi
