Latest Stories – Japanese Arts Connection Lab

You have made arts news happen in Seattle! Thank you

posted September 28, 2014

Friday was the premiere date of “Tomoe and Yoshinaka” – the groundbreaking Noh and Opera production you have personally helped make a reality through your generous donation to this campaign. Thank you sincerely from JACLab, The Fisher Ensemble, and Munenori Takeda and their respective opera and Noh ensembles for your invaluable support.

The first performance took place on September 26th at 7 pm in Seattle’s historic ACT Theatre building. The closing performance on Sunday will be followed by a short meet-and-greet reception sponsored by the North American Post, Seattle’s leading Japanese-community newspaper.

We’re also pleased to share with you this link to the Seattle Times, which featured this Noh-Opera double bill performance in its Arts section last week:

Lastly, here’s a photo of three key people who will be on stage tonight: Garrett Fisher, opera composer and artistic director of The Fisher Ensemble; Jose Luis Munoz, singer in the “Yoshinaka” portion of the show; and Takeda Munenori, famed Noh master from Japan’s Kanze ryu. The photo was taken by Garrett Fisher at rehearsals last week in Seattle. Your support has enabled a mutually enriching cultural exchange between two highly talented artists.

As the curtain rises on this unique production this evening, we will be thinking of all of you with much appreciation!

A special Noh-Opera collaboration – only in Seattle

posted June 24, 2014

Thank you very much for your generous donation to our Noh-Opera project! In March 2014, we held a preview of this unique collaboration between Munenori Takeda and Garrett Fisher at ACT Theatre’s small and intimate Bullitt Cabaret theatre space. Attached is a photo of the two artists together after that preview performance. Nearly 200 people came to watch the show and we collected 81 completed questionnaires from audience members. Here’s a sample of the enthusiastic comments they wrote:

I love it!

A very unique collaboration. Seattle should nurture this type of US-Japan innovation.

Great introduction of Noh and provides a good context for what will happen in September.

I enjoyed the brief view of the stylized Noh movements. The music of the Fisher Ensemble is beautiful.

Fascinating, both pieces.

Munenori Takeda is a very good performer! He will make Noh ‘refreshed’ and we want to see it. Ganbare!!

Creative, Mesmerizing

I am so inspired by this project. What a fabulous concept, a gathering of artistic energy the retention of a very high level of traditional theater, and then juxtaposition with another kind of creative mastery. Thank you!

I’m excited for September.

Great! Thank you.

Stimulating, fascinating.

Surprisingly wonderful! I will attend in September.

Thanks to your valuable support, we are on our way to staging the full performance and offering four shows in a larger space at ACT Theatre, bringing this special performance to even more people!

Doumo arigatou gozaimashita.
- Japan Arts Connection Lab