Makiko Nishikaze: morepianos I, II — MärzMusik 2014

About the Event

Berlin‐based Japanese pianist and composer Makiko Nishikaze first left her mark on the local and international scene with a series of critically acclaimed experimental works that highlighted her deep understanding of and affinity with her chosen instrument. Her special blend of performative, quasi‐theatrical, and visual elements are designed to test and expand the boundaries of the genre in which she works. No piece realises that task more expertly than her latest work: a path breaking two‐part composition for nine pianos, or, to be more exact, nine interacting pianists and one piano.

Entitled simply and fittingly morepianos I, II, Nishikaze’s composition develops a unique ensemble concept. The piece, performed by nine musicians (most of them pianists still in training), is centred on a single, mobile piano. As the instrument is positioned and repositioned, the pianists become actors in a play of sound dictated solely by the ever‐changing nature of their interaction. Entirely conductorless, the work is liberatingly open to serendipitous quirks and improvisational ticks—aspects of live performance Nishikaze has cleverly placed at the centre of her brilliant compositional work.