Gallery | Ryoji Ikeda’s First Work for the Human Voice Resonated to a Full House at the Estonian National Museum
Conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste, the world premiere of a joint work by the acclaimed Japanese artist and composer Ryoji Ikeda and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir was performed on Saturday at the ENM as part of the Tartu 2024 programme. Inspired by the unique aspects of the Estonian language, the choral work will be performed at the Philharmonie de Paris next year.
This was the first time Ryoji Ikeda, primarily active in the electronic music scene, created a composition for the human voice. The programme featured nine distinctive sound pieces with English and Latin texts. The work came to fruition with the cooperation of Tõnu Kaljuste and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. The soloists were sopranos Yena Choi, Marie Roos, and Mirell Jakobson, as well as altos Annely Leinberg and Kristel Marand.
According to Ryoji Ikeda, he has been a great admirer of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir since the beginning of his career as an artist, and collaborating with them has been a lifelong dream of his.
“I have been a big fan of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir for their divine and pristine music,” said Ryoji Ikeda. “At first, I restricted myself to excluding my usual artistic language, such as electronic audiovisual components and digital technologies, from my own palette. It was to make myself naked artistically,” he said, describing his process.
According to Kati Torp, the Artistic Director of Tartu 2024, the evening featured a truly unique world premiere as part of the Tartu 2024 programme. “The work, born from the collaboration between Ryoji Ikeda and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, will also be performed on the stage of the Philharmonie de Paris in December 2025,” said Torp.
Ryoji Ikeda also opened a unique audiovisual solo exhibition dedicated to Estonians at the Estonian National Museum as part of the Tartu 2024 programme. The exhibition presents two new artworks created especially for the ENM premises. Created in collaboration with the University of Tartu’s Institute of Genomics and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the installations explore the relationship between human DNA data and soundscapes. This creates a unique intersection between Estonian science and cultural heritage.
The solo exhibition will be open from 2 November until 2 March 2025. Ryoji Ikeda’s solo exhibition and concert is part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 main programme.
The concert is available for replay on Klassikaraadio’s website.
Gallery: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ysxaz0K26TWzEoolMQS2DpwNkLmEggCR?usp=share_link (Maanus Kullamaa)