What happens when two opposing worlds collide? When a forbidden love blossoms? When the gods pass their judgment? Will a star take pity on their love?

ama no gawa – The River of Heaven is a performative concert based on the legend of Tanabata. The heavenly weaver Orihime falls in love with the cowherd Hikoboshi. Two worlds meet — worlds that could not be more different.

 

Musically, too, Japan’s divine court music Gagaku encounters Austrian chamber music in a new composition by Julián Ferreira, telling through sound the longing for the unknown, the struggle for forbidden love, and the River of Heaven (ama no gawa) — the Japanese name for the Milky Way.

​

Tokyo International Gagaku Orchestra (TIGO)

Sophie Steiner (Artistic Director / Kugo)

Nidani Megumi (Hichiriki)

Nawa Marika (Shō)

Kanisasare Ayako (Shō)

Aoki Fusayoshi (Shō)

Abe Miyoko (Hichiriki)

Gotō Nobuhiro (Ryūteki)

Kumaido Hirotaka (Ryūteki)

Julián Ferreira (Composition / Hichiriki)

Minami Naomi (Ryūteki)

​

Motus Quartet (String Quartet)

Tim de Vries (Violin)

Karla Križ (Violin)

Erin Pitts (Viola)

Domonkos Hartmann (Violoncello)