The Yoichi Ochiai x Japan Philharmonic Orchestra Project seeks to use technology to update the experience of listening to an orchestra, and use art and culture to build a highly diverse society, as well as to disseminate Japanese culture. Once again this year WOW is participating as a “Video Performer,” engaging in video direction utilizing AI.

Based on a concept of music being “felt with the senses in a physical experience,” since 2018 this project has been pursuing the sheer joy of live music and working on the fusion of the digital and the real. From 2023 a new collaboration began with Dai Fujikura, a renowned Japanese composer resident in the United Kingdom, with the orchestra embarking on an exploration of Japan in “Open Leaves.” Traditional sounds and auditory experiences from various regions of Japan are presented in a new light in a production combing orchestral sounds and technology. In the second year of this collaboration the focus is on “Onidaiko” (Demon drumming and dance) of Sado in Niigata Prefecture, introducing the charm of this performing artform that has deep cultural roots in the region.

Using composer Berlioz’s program notes as AI prompts
WOW will present a video production utilizing AI, which has continued to evolve and spread since last year, and 3D Gaussian Splatting, which is attracting attention for its breakthrough image processing capabilities. This year WOW will apply an AI learning model created specifically for this concert. In Symphonie fantastique in the main program AI technology will be used in the generation, selection and switching of images, including some of the actual program notes written by the composer Berlioz being employed as AI prompts.

In the Hatano no Onidaiko performance from Sado, 3D data of both performers and audience members scanned in advance using 3D Gaussian Splatting is projected onto a large LED display (11m x 2m) on stage during the performance. The aim is to dissolve the boundaries between performers and audience, and stage and audience, uniting everyone in the venue in a 3D space to enjoy the sights and sounds of the festivities.

We hope that the audience will enjoy this one-night-only magical “Orchestra of Alternation” performance, where the boundaries between reality and unreality become blurred and fantasy and delusion intermingle.

■ Performers
Director and Producer: Yoichi Ochiai
Conductor: Hikaru Ebihara
Video Performer: WOW
Onidaiko (“Demon drumming and dance”): Hadano Kumano-Jinja saiten seinen Onigumi (Hadano Kumano Shrine Festival Youth Troupe; Sado City)*
Talk guest: Yuki Matsuda (President, NPO Sado Traditional Art Transmission Association)
Navigator: Yoko Ebara
Orchestral music: Japan Philharmonic Orchestra

■ Performance details
Date: (Tue) August 20, 2024
Time: Performance starts 19:00 (Lobby opens 18:00, doors open 18:20)
Venue: Suntory Hall
▶Japan Philharmonic Orchestra Official Website

■ Performance program
Hadano no Onidaiko* (Demon drumming and dance of Hadano)
Dai Fujikura: Demon Dance (Open Leaves II; JPO Commission) [World Premiere] *
Berlioz: Excerpts from Symphonie fantastique—“Scène aux champs,” “Marche au supplice,” ” Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat” among others
* On the day of the concert there will be a special corner of the lobby where visitors can experience the attractions of Sado.

■ Venue tickets
(All seats are reserved, consumption tax included.)
SS ¥12,000 (Including priority entry and commemorative gift)
S Adult ¥8,000, Child ¥2,500
A Adult ¥6,500, Child ¥1,000
Ys (under 25s) and diversity seats (for persons with disability certificate) ¥2,000
▶Ticket purchase
* Children: Elementary to high school students (preschool children will not be admitted); Ys seats: For people 25 years and younger / Discounted seats for A seats
* Ys and diversity seats only available from JPO Service Center
* For persons with hearing impairments a vibration device using Xmod will be available. (Limited to 20 seats, sales of which to be launched at a later date and handled exclusively by JPO)
* Childcare service (Advance reservation required: Fee payable): Event Childcare® Mother’s Tel: 0120-788-222 (Weekdays 10:00-17:00)

Crowdfunding READYFOR (until 23:00 on August 27 (Tue))
We are also looking for supporters who are able to help in finding the “Joy of Music” that can be experienced through fieldwork and workshops. We are calling for your support for events and items that will extend the joy of the performance to before and after the concert. We are accepting donations through the crowdfunding site READYFOR. Together we can extend the unique joy of art that can be found in music.
Click here to support the concert.

■ Sponsorship/Planning/Production
Japan Philharmonic Orchestra
*A subsidized project of the 2024 Japan Expo Innovation Project (Independent Administrative Agency Japan Arts Council/Agency for Cultural Affairs)

■ Co-organizer
Sado City

■ Cooperation
jiseCHI, inc., WOW inc., raw, TBWA\HAKUHODO, Suntory Hall, etc.

■ Support
Prism Co., Ltd.