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Francesca Le Lohé (she/her) is a composer, community musician, teacher and flute player, active in Japan and the UK.
Theatrical projects and intercultural exchange are integral to Francesca's work Francesca is currently developing “How Was It For You?”: a new opera project taking Mori Ogai's short novel, "Vita Sexualis"(1909) as a springboard to explore themes of Relationship and Sex Education within Japan and the UK. In collaboration with librettist, Joanna Pidcock. Support from Arts Council Tokyo and Help Musicians. Upcoming performances: Toshima Civic Centre, Tokyo, 18th-20th May 2022 In August 2020, she co-founded the “Sound & Word Network” with writer Charlotte Wührer, to facilitate international collaborations between composers/sound artists and writers. Francesca is the composer and director behind "THE鍵KEY": an immersive, site-specific opera inspired by Tanizaki's novella of the same name, featuring a mixture of Japanese and western artforms. The Suntory Foundation for the Arts awarded the 2019 Tokyo performances the prestigious “Keizo Saji Prize” and the UK premiere was an official event of the Japan-UK Season of Culture. Francesca's work has featured in festivals such as TAma Music and Arts Festival, Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival, London Festival of Architecture, Sonorities and Noise Floor. Her compositions have been performed by numerous ensembles, including Southbank Sinfonia (alumni), GBSR duo, Trio Atem, "Senju Dajare Community Band", Psappha and Red Note ensemble. She has held artist residencies at Hospitalfield (UK), Elektronmusikstudion (Sweden) and NOVARS (research centre for sound, space and interactive art, UK). From 2015-2021, Francesca was based in Tokyo after receiving a 2015 Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Scholarship. Alongside her compositional activities, Francesca studied traditional instruments, including the sho, which she regularly performed on with The Japan Gagaku Society, and worked as a facilitator with the music therapy NPO Kokoro Talk Music. She completed her undergraduate at the University of Manchester and her masters at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, studying with David Fennessy and Alistair MacDonald. Profile on the British Music Collection |
