The Japanese composer, who created the film score for Studio Ghibli animations, including ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ and ‘My Neighbour Totoro’, spoke to Tatler ahead of his upcoming concert in Hong Kong
After five long years and several cancellations during the pandemic, Japanese composer-conductor Joe Hisaishi will be returning to Hong Kong for three concerts from June 22 to 24, 2023 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
Cathay Proudly Sponsors: Joe Hisaishi in Concert, performed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPhil), will feature three pieces by Hisaishi—the first time these pieces will be performed live in the city: Symphony No. 2, a three-part work—made up of What the World Is Now, Variation 14 and Nursery Rhyme—that premiered in 2021 and documents the process of self-discovery; Woman, a lighthearted piece created for the strings, harp, percussion and piano; and the full Princess Mononoke Symphonic Suite as the finale, a dark and somewhat haunting work created for Princess Mononoke, the 1997 fantasy animation by iconic filmmaker Miyazaki Hayao that explores the intricate and potentially destructive relationship between humans and nature. The solo in Princess Mononoke Symphonic Suite will be sung by local soprano Louise Kwong, who also performed a solo in Hisaishi’s last concert in Hong Kong in 2018.
Music from Studio Ghibli films was also incorporated in Hisaishi’s previous concerts in Hong Kong. In 2010 he’d included Prime of Youth, The End of the World, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Departures, One Summer’s Day, Water Traveller, Summer, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea and Oriental Wind; and in 2018 he’s included The East Land Symphony, mládí for piano and strings and Symphonic Suite Castle in the Sky.
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Tickets for Cathay Proudly Sponsors: Joe Hisaishi in Concert are expected to be in high demand, and will be sold through a ballot and real-name ticketing system. Registration for the ballot will be open on the Urbtix website from May 22, 2023 and successful applicants will be limited to the purchase of two tickets max.
Tatler recently had a chat with Hisaishi on his third concert in Hong Kong and his upcoming plans at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
