Collaborative, devised & improvised work
"Assorted Sounds" @ OTOOTO, Tokyo, 2021
‘Assorted Sounds’ was organised by composer Francesca Le Lohé and sound artist Tomoko Hojo. With guests Atsumi Kojima (sho) and Chiho Oka (sound artist), we presented new work and improvisational performances.
The basic idea behind this event was to create a space in which artists and composers can share work in progress & try new ideas in the field of experimental sound and music. We also intended to focus on women composers and performers, as female artists have often been ignored in Japan. Event held without an audience due to State of Emergency. (Filmed on 13th February, 2021 at OTOOTO, Tokyo. Video: Hiroyuki Kojima) Video link to Quartet: Improvisation: Chiho Oka (laptop/synth), Atsumi Kojima (sho), Francesca Le Lohé (flute), Tomoko Hojo (microphone, body, objects) |
Audio-visual piece "Chain of Works: 1"
Created through the exchange of inspiration between artists of the Sound & Word Network. These artists, from different disciplines across the globe, created new work in response to each other. The first “link in the chain” of inspiration came when Francesca Le Lohé (composer) wrote a short piece for solo sho inspired by the flash-fiction work “Nine-to-Five” by Charlotte Wührer (writer).
Collaborating sound artists (s) and word artists (w) in alphabetical order: Laura Attridge (w), Sara Caneva (s), Elizabeth Ditmanson (s), Ana Gnjatović (s), Francesca Le Lohé (s), Neil Luck (s), Taylor Miles (w), Altair Hernandez Martinez (w), Makoto Nomura (s), Lyz Pfister (w), Lynette Quek (s) Gurmeet Singh (w), Sarah Wenig (w), Charlotte Wührer (w). Major performances: 3rd TAma Music and Arts Festival 2021 (March 2021) |
Artwork by Jelena Novaković
Ana Gnjatovic's “My Garden Without Me”
“My Garden Without Me” by Ana Gnjatovic, is a constructed archive of faked field recordings.
I participated in a strand of the archive, “Tree bark recipes”: A collection of sound works showing befores and afters of insects and spiders inhabiting a single littleleaf linden (Tilia cordata). All participants received a short text about the insect and was instructed to create something as a result of imagining the daily life and culture of the insect before or after the lockdown. Witness is my faked field recording for Euproserpinus Wiesti: BEFORE. |
A semi-improvised piece for flute and biwa, devised and performed by Kumiko Shuto (biwa) and Francesca Le Lohé (flute).
Major performances: Karura Hall, Tokyo (2016) |
BONANG DE SHO (ボナンで笙）
Devised for and premiered by composer Makoto Nomura’s "Senju Dajare Community Band" and Shin Sakuma (dancer) after a week of cultural exchange in Java, Indonesia. Graphic notation by Francesca Le Lohé, illustrated score by Senju Dajare member and artist, Takuya Kohiyama.
Instrumentation: sho, bonang, melodicas (as many as possible) and additional instruments (free) Major performances: Tokyo University of the Arts (2017) |
Upcoming/Work-in-progress
4th-17th October 2021 Interdisciplinary Artist Residency @ Hospitalfield, Scotland May 2022~ A series of interactive, multi-disciplinary performances exploring themes of relationship and sex education (RSE) within contemporary Britain and Japan. |
