The Otoasobi Project
The Otoasobi Project’ is a group of musicians, music therapists, individuals
with learning disabilities and their families who started music-making
workshops in 2005 at Kobe University in order to explore new musical expressions.
Since then these new musical expressions, which are created through our
regular workshops, have been performed as free improvisation, balloon baseball,
sumo match, graphic notation, rap music, and original-language songs at
more than 30 concerts. |
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Members
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The group consists of 16 people with
learning disabilities and their families, about 20 artists from various fields,
and music therapists. Individuals with learning disabilities include autism,
Down syndrome, Williams syndrome and so on, whose ages range from 8 to 42. They
collaborate freely with artists such as free improvisers, pop musicians, butoh
dancers, and installation artists. Over 50 guest artists have been involved so
far to create new performances. Parents of the people with learning
disabilities are also important members who make their own music using
cardboard boxes, kitchen utensils, and even hoovers.
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Concerts
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The Otoasobi Project has held more than 30 concerts along with numerous public
workshops. At the first concert ‘Oto-no-shiro’ (Castle of Sound), various
spaces of an old western house were used to perform improvised pieces. At the
second concert ‘Oto-no-Umi’ (Ocean of Sound), 27 ensembles performed in a hall
located on an artificial island in Kobe. The music making process was documented
by a young film director and released as documentary in 2010. From the live
recordings of these concerts, a CD was released and was used as a soundtrack
for the movie, ‘German + Rain’. The group still continues to make new styles of
performance such as rock-papers-scissors performance, air ensemble (no sounds) or multi-conducted ensemble.
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Reviews
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The performances have been accepted from various points of view. A photo
appeared on the front cover of the book titled “Invitation to Community Music Therapy”(left
bottom), a ‘dance’ review was written for Kyoto Art Center Newsletter, and
several magazines such as “Brut”, “Educational Music”, “Eureka”,
and “Geijyutsu Shincho” (Art magazine of Shincho Publishing Co.,Ltd.) has
reported on the activities. Several
theses have also been written in the field of community music therapy, music
education, art management, communication study, linguistics, and
improvisation. Each of
the group members has a fairly different aim?for example education, welfare,
art and joy?so we share a belief that every member has their own ways of
evaluation. The creativity energy arises from these discrepancies.
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CD "Oto no Shiro / Oto no Umi" :
Improvised Music From Japan CD shop
http://www.japanimprov.com/cdshop2/index.html
http://www.japanimprov.com/indies/otoasobinokai/otonoshiro.html |
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HP: http://otoasobi.main.jp/ contact: Rii Numata riinumata@gmail.com |