Chofu International Music Festival 2026: Highlighted Performances

Chofu International Music Festival 2026: Highlighted Performances

The Chofu International Music Festival is proud to present a brand-new opera!

### World Premiere: Atsuhiko Gonai - Opera 'ZEN'

- Date/Time: June 26 (Fri) 19:00 (120 minutes with intermission) - Venue: Chofu City Culture Hall Tazukuri, Kusunoki Hall - Price: All seats reserved, S ¥15,000 (A/B seats sold out) - Cast: Masato Suzuki (conductor), Toru Kaku (D.T. Suzuki), Kei Yonashiro (Kitaro Nishida), Ryo Sakurada (Kazuo Kimura), Hirotaka Kato (Kiyoshi Takano), Noriyuki Muramatsu (Masako Kimura), Yusuke Watanabe (Guard), Suizen Kuroda (Shakuhachi), Bach Collegium Japan (Orchestra & Male Chorus) - Composer: Atsuhiko Gonai, Script: Harue Tsutsumi, Director: Tetsu Taoshita

#### Synopsis On the eve of World War II, philosopher Kitaro Nishida and Buddhist scholar D.T. Suzuki struggle to overcome the Western logic of binary choice that divides friends from enemies. However, the war begins. Kiyoshi Takano is sent to the front as a military doctor, and Kazuo Kimura is conscripted as a student soldier. Nishida passes away just before Japan's defeat.

In a war crimes prison in Singapore just after the war, Kimura is sentenced to death for murdering islanders on a southern island, and Takano is also sentenced to death for killing a spy under his superior's orders. Takano, whose sentence is commuted, gives Nishida's book 'Fundamental Problems of Philosophy' to Kimura. Kimura writes his will in the margins of the book before being executed.

Ten years later, Takano returns to Japan, receives the book from Kimura's sister, and reads the will. Burdened by the weight of surviving after killing a spy and carrying the last words of the innocent Kimura, Takano attempts to return the book to Nishida in the underworld and join the world of the dead. D.T. Suzuki guides Takano toward the teachings of Zen, which transcend binary choices, and preaches to the world the state of 'Myo'—oneness of self and other, or the state of 'Wonderful'.

### Special Related Event #### Opening Talk Event: 'Composer Talks about Opera ZEN'

- Date/Time: June 20 (Sat) 16:00 (60 minutes, no intermission) - Venue: Chofu City Culture Hall Tazukuri, Murasaki Hall - Price: All seats unreserved, ¥1,000 - Guests: Atsuhiko Gonai (Composer), Masato Suzuki (Conductor)

### Three Highlighted Performances at Green Hall

#### 1. Opening Concert: Masato Suzuki x Panda Wind Orchestra Opening Gala! - Date/Time: June 21 (Sun) 14:00 (120 minutes with intermission) - Venue: Chofu City Green Hall, Main Hall - Price: All seats reserved, S ¥6,000, A ¥5,000 - Performers: Masato Suzuki (conductor), Kohei Ueno (saxophone), Panda Wind Orchestra, Bach Collegium Japan (male chorus), Meiji University Meiji High/Junior High School Wind Band

#### 2. 'Carnival of the Animals' and the Breeze of France by Festival Orchestra All-Stars - Date/Time: June 25 (Thu) 13:00 (90 minutes with intermission) - Venue: Chofu City Green Hall, Main Hall - Price: All seats reserved, ¥5,500 - Performers: Kei Shirai, Seiji Okamoto, Eri Takimura, Mayuko Ishigami, Hiroshi Narita, Toru Yamamoto, Shigeru Ishikawa, Seiya Ueno, Dirk Altmann, Naoko Yoshino, Kosuke Nakayama, Jun Sugawara, Masato Suzuki, Yui Morishita

#### 3. Festival Orchestra: Masaaki Suzuki x Festival Orchestra - Mahler 'Titan' - Date/Time: June 27 (Sat) 16:00 (120 minutes with intermission) - Venue: Chofu City Green Hall, Main Hall - Price: All seats reserved, S ¥7,000, A ¥6,000, B ¥5,000, C ¥4,000