Musician and arts advocate Genevieve Lacey continues in her role as curator of the Sydney Opera House’s Utzon Room Music Series of chamber music.
Lacey’s first concert in the series, THE EDGE OF ZEN, featured shakuhachi grandmaster Riley Lee and koto grandmaster Satsuki Odamura in a cross-cultural performance with the Chroma Quartet. To translate, the shakuhachi are Japanese bamboo flutes; a grand master is the highest ranked player; and the koto is a traditional Japanese string instrument with 13 (or 17 strings) made from paulownia wood, with movable bridges to adjust the pitch of the strings.
This sold-out once only event was magic. The audience looks out over the stunning Harbour view. Behind the audience is the tapestry “Homage to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach” designed by Jørn Utzon and created to enhance the acoustics and aesthetic of the Utzon Room.
The program notes say “With a diverse program spanning music by Japanese koto composer Michio Miyagi and Australian composers Ross Edwards, Anne Boyd and Lachlan Skipworth, alongside Debussy’s classic String Quartet, this collaboration – assembled for the intimacy of the Utzon Room – celebrates the historical legacy of creative exchange between Japanese and Western music.”
But for all that, there are several things missing in The Edge of Zen. Of the seven pieces presented, there were only a few short solo sections for Lee on the shakuhachi. Lee is a masterful musician, making the bamboo instrument echo soulfully through the Utzon. He has an amazing command of fractional inflections of tones, achieved with a wide range of finger and breath attacks on every note. We want to hear more of his bamboo magic. Somehow the Debussy quartet, beautifully played as it was, hung heavy in the air in comparison to winsome flute.
This disjunct was corrected in the final piece, Australian Lachlan Skipworth’s Sealight (2024) for shakuhachi, koto and string quartet. Finally East met West, Zen and Australia merged, and the glissandos swept the world music together into one grand finale.
The second missing element was any speaking from the performers. Lee spoke briefly and Genevieve gave a gracious welcoming introduction, but no one spoke about the Japanese instruments. Perhaps that is just as well. Anyone interested can find information on the net about the performers, the composers and, of course, the soulful Japanese instruments.
Chroma Quartet members are Harry Bennetts, Victoria Bihun, Elizabeth Woolnough, Eliza Sdraulig.
Satsuki Odamura is a master of the koto. She pioneered the introduction of teaching & performing on this ancient Japanese instrument since her arrival in Australia. Satsuki has performed Japan, Europe, the USSR, the United States, Southeast Asia.
The program for THE EDGE OF ZEN was Robin Williamson’s Letter from a Stranger’s Childhood (1987) for solo bass koto, then Ross Edwards’ Voice of the Rain (2015) for shakuhachi & string quartet, Michio Miyagi’s Haru no Umi (Spring Sea) for koto and shakuhachi, Anne Boyd’s Alchera-Jugulba (2019) for shakuhachi and string quartet, Claude Debussy’s String Quartet Op 10 in G minor (1893), Lachlan Skipworth’s Sealight (2024) for shakuhachi, koto & string quartet.
Photography by Jay Patel
