Introduction
Artwork Introduction
Theater Opera
"The star has no sound - Clockwork Universe -"
Toyooka Theater Festival2020 Kaito Nakahori＋Oriza Hirata Chamber Opera "Zero" shooting：igaki photo studio
Playwright and director Oriza Hirata and composer Kaito Nakahori will work on their second theater opera. With the themes of the universe and imagery, the latest 3D audio technology will be used to create a multidimensional space in which Hirata's contemporary colloquial theater and Nakahori's contemporary music arias featuring vocalise (singing technique using vowel sounds or nonsense syllables) alternate. The work is a result of exploration to realize an ultimate art work where elements of contemporary theater, music, and art interact. It is a co-production with Toyooka Theater Festival, Setouchi Triennale and Mito International Music Festival and will tour to each festivals.
What is Theatre Opera?
It has been five years since the previous work, "Zero," premiered.
This fall, the sequel, a theater opera entitled "There is No Sound on the Planet - A Clockwork Universe," will premiere.
"Theatre Opera" is a genre that I began to advocate together with Oriza Hirata, inspired by my desire to create a new form of expression that fuses various contemporary arts, including contemporary theater, contemporary fine art, and contemporary music.
The play will be performed at the Toyooka Theatre Festival and the Setouchi Triennale this fall, before touring to the Mito International Music Festival on October 11th.
I sincerely hope that this production will connect the different genres of festivals - theater festival, art festival, and music festival - and each of their respective regions.
We are very excited to be taking our first steps at the Mito International Music Festival with this iconic production.
Kaito Nakahori
Saturday October 11th,
2025 14:40~
The Hirosawa City Hall
An after-talk will be held after the performance
After the performance, there will be an after-talk with director Oriza Hirata and composer Kaito Nakahori.
■Date and time: Saturday, October 11th,17:00~ (scheduled for approximately 1 hour)
■ Venue: The Hirosawa City Hall Small Hall
■ Speakers: Oriza Hirata and Kaito Nakahori
■Admission fee: Free (only for those who attend the performance)
Limited to the first 200 people
Priority will be given to those who have made reservations for the talk event, but there will also be slots available on the day.
You are also welcome to come directly to the event. However, due to limited seating at the venue,
Please note that we may refuse admission if the venue is fully booked.
If you would like to attend, please apply by Friday, October 3rd using the form below.
Those who have made a reservation will receive admission instructions via email at a later date.
Oriza Hirata + Kaito Nakahori
Oriza Hirata
(Oriza Hirata)
Playwright and director. President of the Professional College of Arts and Tourism. Director of the Aomori Museum of Art. He received the 39th Kishida Kunio Drama Award in 1995 for "Tokyo Note," the 22nd Tsuruya Nanboku Drama Award in 2019 for "The History of the Rise and Fall of Japanese Literature," and Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication in 2011. He has written and directed operas, including "Stilles Meer" (composed by Toshio Hosokawa) at the Hamburg State Opera in 2016 and "Zero" (composed by Kaito Nakahori) at the Toyooka Theater Festival in 2020.
Kaito Nakahori
（Kaito Nakahori）
A Japanese-born composer based in New York, USA, Nakahori began composing under the influence of Toru Takemitsu's music and gagaku, traditional Japanese court music. He advocates the concepts of “timeless music” in which sound and silence are interwoven in a meditative and hazy tonal world, and “spacetime music” in which sound image and acoustic changes are expressed. Since his portrait concert at the United Nations Headquarters in 2015, he has presented a variety of compositions from opera to gagaku around the world, and has collaborated in the fields of theater and the visual arts. In 2025, he will launch Mito International Music Festival as its director.
