Maki Namekawa Presents Philip Glass, Keith Jarrett, Joe Hisaishi, Evan Ziporyn

2021-22 MIT Sounding Series

Maki Namekawa and Cori O’Lan’s visualizations. Courtesy of the artist.
Maki Namekawa, Credit: Andreas H. Bitesnich
Maki Namekawa and Philip Glass, 2020. Credit: Publishing LAFFERENTZ.
Joe Hisaishi. Credit: OMAR CRUZ.
Philip Glass. Courtesy of the Artist.
Maki Namekawa, 2020. Credit: vog.photo

About

Maki Namekawa, a leading pianist dedicated to exploring new works by composers on a global scale, came to MIT’s Kresge Auditorium to perform the US premiere of Joe Hisaishi’s Toccata, Philip Glass’s Piano Sonata (which was composed specifically for her), Keith Jarrett’s Ritual, and the world premiere of Evan Ziporyn’s “Music for ‘365 Stories I Want To Tell You Before We Both Die’ – Part One”. 

The Hisaishi sonata was co-commissioned by MIT’s Center for Art, Science & Technology and Ars Electronica Center. Hisaishi, renowned for his over 100 film scores, longtime collaboration with director Hayao Miyazaki, and video game score for Ni no Kuni, has partnered with Namekawa and ​​her husband, the conductor Dennis Russell Davies, on several piano compositions.

Schedule

Past Events

Public Performance
Maki Namekawa: 21st Century Piano
Music by Joe Hisaishi [MIT CAST co-commission, US premiere], Philip Glass, Keith Jarrett, and Evan Ziporyn [world premiere]
Friday, May 13, 2022 / 7:30pm
MIT Kresge Auditorium
48 Massachusetts Ave W16, Cambridge, MA 02139

Maki Namekawa, a leading pianist dedicated to exploring new works by composers on a global scale, cames to MIT’s Kresge Auditorium to perform the US premiere of Joe Hisaishi’s Toccata, Philip Glass’s Piano Sonata (which was composed specifically for her), Keith Jarrett’s Ritual, and the world premiere of Evan Ziporyn’s “Music for ‘365 Stories I Want To Tell You Before We Both Die – Part One’”.

The Hisaishi sonata was co-commissioned by MIT’s Center for Art, Science & Technology and Ars Electronica Center. 

Collaborators

Maki Namekawa is a leading figure among today’s pianists, bringing to audiences’ attention contemporary music by international composers. She performs regularly at international venues including Carnegie Hall, Musikverein Vienna, Barbican Center, Philharmonie de Paris, and Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam. In 2013, Namekawa performed the world premiere of the entire cycle of Philip Glass’ 20 etudes for piano solo in Australia under the participation of Glass himself, followed by concerts around the world. Her album of the complete Glass etudes was released in 2014, reaching number 1 of the iTunes Classic charts and receiving high praise by BBC Music Magazine. In 2019, Philip Glass composed his first Piano Sonata especially for Maki Namekawa. She premiered the Sonata in the presence of the composer at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr. Maki Namekawa‘s repertory for the season 2022/23 includes works by Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, György Ligeti.

Website: makinamekawa.com
Social: FacebookInstagram | Spotify


Composer, pianist and conductor Joe Hisaishi is known internationally for his music created for the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki, and for his nearly 100 film scores and solo albums. Hisaishi’s work draws from American minimalist compositions, experimental electronic music, and European and Japanese classical music.

Biography: Columbia Artists
Website: joehisaishi.com
Social: Facebook | Instagram | SoundCloud | Twitter | YouTube


Philip Glass is a composer and pianist and has had an extraordinary and unprecedented impact upon the musical and intellectual life of his times. In the past 25 years, Glass has composed more than twenty five operas, large and small; fourteen symphonies, thirteen concertos; soundtracks to films ranging from new scores for the stylized classics of Jean Cocteau to Errol Morris’s documentary about former defense secretary Robert McNamara; nine string quartets; a growing body of work for solo piano and organ. He has collaborated with Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Yo-Yo Ma, and Doris Lessing, among many others. He presents lectures, workshops, and solo keyboard performances around the world, and continues to appear regularly with the Philip Glass Ensemble.

Website: philipglass.com
Social: Twitter


Keith Jarrett is a jazz and classical pianist and composer who embraces solo improvisation, duets, trios, quartets, original compositions, multi-instrumental ventures, masterpieces of the classical repertoire, and wide-ranging explorations of the Great American Songbook.

Biography: ECM Records

Credits