 L-R: David Wheeler (IOU), Hongshuo Fan (UofM), Francesca Le Lohé, Amy Zhang (UofM), Ricardo Climent (UofM), Loui Binns (IOU) It was an exciting and frutiful experience to take part in FutureEverything's Innovation Lab 2023 with the University of Manchester on January 18th. The intensive day focused on 'Creative Tech' themes, and enabled members of arts organisation IOU and I to team up with academics from UoM to develop pitches for research projects to receive funding. We were successful and our seed funding will go towards developing the My Three Words: Worldwide project!
My Three Words: Worldwide is a collaborative multimedia project between Sound & Word Network, The Arc Project and IOU. It builds on the knowledge learned from IOU’s My Three Words pilot project celebrating the town of Goole. My Three Words: Worldwide will invite artists from any medium to contribute to a web-based installation, from anywhere in the world. Each artist’s contribution will be inspired by a location and the three words used on the what3words app, that has a special significance for them. We want the artworks to be pinned on a digital, interactive map or spinnable globe, allowing audiences to search the world and find new artwork in diverse places. Thanks to the innovation lab, we were able to discuss the challenges with experts at the university, who will now undertake research for the project and prototyping of the interactive map platform.
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I am delighted to be taking part in Psappha ensemble's "Composing for Pipa" scheme. I will be learning about the instrument and writing a new 5 minute piece for pipa virtuoso, Cheng Yu. The finished piece will be filmed and released online by Psappha in May 2023.  Introductory session with Cheng Yu (pipa) and fellow composers at St Michael's, Manchester Ensemble Falke will perform Que Morro (2013) for string trio as part of their "Crossing Gazes: Japanese Culture and Western Art Music" series. 27/10/22: Tenoji temple, Tokyo, Japan 31/10/22: Fukufuku Hall, Fukuoka, Japan  A highlight video of the May 2022 Tokyo performances of my current opera project "How Was It For You?" is now live!
More information about the project can be found here: "How Was It For You?" (English) / 「How Was It For You?」日本語. Stay tuned for UK performance dates!  I shall be collaborating with Babel Artistic Director Joseph Lynch to lead a one day creative workshop exploring the meeting points between music, movement and theatre making. Participants will be taken through a dynamic mix of exploratory exercises in response to work made by visual artist Caroline AskerogJones.
Date: Wednesday 24th August 2022 Time: 10am - 4pm Place: Clod Ensemble Studios Supported by Help Musicians Participation is free of charge. Book a place using the button above (spaces limited)  Performances of my new in-development project will take place on 18th-20th May 2022 @ Toshima Civic Hall, Tokyo "How Was It For You?": a new musical drama 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.
Stumbling across the long-forgotten diary of an ancestor, a young woman is disappointed to find she can’t understand the written Japanese. She asks her cousin in Japan to help her read it, only to find the book is not so much a diary, but rather the ancestor’s attempts to write about his sex life. Embarrassed, but curious, the cousins read on. But has much changed since then? Do they find it any easier to find answers to their burning questions, to share their private thoughts and experiences? I envisage this project as a series of performances, with each ‘episode’ being researched and performed in a different location. The "pilot episode" performances in Tokyo this May marks the beginning of this project’s journey. Sneak peaks and video footage to come! On Sunday 19th December @ 10am UTC, Sound & Word Network will host a panel discussion and screening of our collaborative audio-visual piece, "Chain of Works:1" at The Arc Project Festival.
Link to our event on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2380320059?pwd=dGcvSkZhaFNMYVlVa2FZTFNEa1czQT09 A panel of 4 artists who contributed to "Chain of Works: 1" will represent the network: Altair Hernandez Martinez, Ana Gnjatović, Neil Luck and myself. The festival is full of exciting events, and free to attend!
You can now watch my talk about THE鍵KEY at the International Shakuhachi Festival Prague 2021 Symposium
A full programme for the symposium can be found on the festival's website: "Meeting of Worlds: Traditional Instruments and Their Role in Contemporary Composition". In my talk, "Japanese & Western Art Forms in “THE鍵KEY”: an Immersive Opera", I will shed light on why particular instruments were chosen, the results of their combination, and the effect this had on the creative process. I shall also share footage from the Tokyo and London performances. Talk date: Thursday 9th September 2021, 14:00-14:30 UK time, online/Prague Naomi Sato shall perform "After 9-5" at Suture Festival in Soven, Germany, August 14th at 3pm.
Tickets & info: https://www.suturesoven.com/SUTURE-FESTIVAL Suture Festival presents an exciting programme of contemporary and experimental music in the village of Soven, located within a biosphere reserve just a couple of hours from Berlin. "After 9-5" for sho and electronics was created through an ongoing exchange between Berlin-based writer, Charlotte Wührer and myself. Naomi Sato (sho) shall give the European premiere at Suture Festival. A playlist focusing on my work will be played on WebSYNradio from tonight! (1st July) Where: http://synradio.fr/francesca-le-lohe-shaped-by-words/ When: 1st - 14th July, every night @ 8pm (UTC+2) The podcast will be available shortly after. Also featuring work by Tomoko Hojo, Ana Gnjatovic, and Naomi woo + Sophie Seita.  |
