Taro Hakase  JAPONISM  Wold Tour 2013

Get Ready to Enjoy!

Japan’s favourite violinist and composer Taro Hakase is performing plugged in for the first time in the UK — joined on stage by his band direct from Japan

Monday 25th November, 2013　at 8pm 
O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London W12 8TT

Box Office: www.livenation.co.uk (search  for Taro Hakase) 
Since 2008, Taro Hakase performed a number of sell out concerts in the classical Cadogan Hall in London.
This Autumn Taro is packing his violin and taking his band for a World Tour that will see him play 45 concerts, finishing on 29th December. He is also taking with him his lighting and set technicians to introduce the world the complete Taro Experience for the first time.

Taro has been performing to over 200,000 people a year in Japan for the past 23 years. It has taken time for audiences to know what to expect at a Taro concert. In Japan they know they will be entertained, amused, enlightened and moved.  Now it is time for the rest of the world to break free from pre-conceived ideas about instrumental music and to learn to enjoy the Taro Hakase Experience!

Musician, Composer, Entertainer: Taro Hakase World Tour 2013

For the first time, Japan’s favourite violinist, composer and entertainer, Taro Hakase will be doing a world tour with the Taro Hakase Band.

Taro is one of the best-known characters in the Japanese entertainment world. A talented violinist who had known only classical music until attending the National Music University in Tokyo, Taro responded to hearing music by the likes of the Rolling Stones and the Sex Pistols by starting his own band, Krysler and Kompany in 1990. He found his inner entertainer and dazzled audiences who had only experienced music from specific genres: classical, jazz, pop or rock and introduced them to having fun, to enjoying instrumental music from all genres.
Turning solo, he continued to explore this relationship between his passion for music and his passion for entertainment, building a dedicated audience who could be persuaded to throw off traditional reserve, to dance in the aisles to some of Taro’s jazz-funk compositions.

Advertisers, film and television producers also saw how Taro’s compositions impacted on his audience. His music now can be heard all over Japan; it is ubiquitous and can be seen as the soundtrack to modern Japan.

After touring with Celine Dion, Taro started to consider exploring his classical music roots. He came to London, a city he had fallen in love with on his tour with Celine, and performed a number of sell out concerts in the classical Cadogan Hall. Buoyed by this success, he repeated his acoustic concerts in Japan – to great acclaim.

Taro’s latest album, Japonism has again moved his music forwards. As the title indicates, it is rich with compositions inspired by Japan; by its landscape and culture. Unlike previous albums, many of the pieces include traditional Japanese instruments such as the shamisen, taiko drums or sho – played by leading Japanese musicians. There is a maturity to the music that acknowledges Taro’s own rich musical heritage.

Launching the album in Japan in August this year, Taro packed his violin and along with a small group of journalists, climbed Mount Fuji, a powerful symbol of Japan, to play at its summit. This Autumn, Taro is again packing his violin and taking his band for a World Tour that will see him play 45 concerts, finishing on 29th December. He is also taking with him his lighting and set technicians; to introduce the world the complete Taro Experience.

Taro has been performing to over 200,000 people a year in Japan for the past 23 years. It has taken time for audiences to know what to expect at a Taro concert. In Japan, they know – they know they will be entertained, amused, enlightened and moved. Now it is time for the rest of the world to break free from pre-conceived ideas about instrumental music and to learn to enjoy the Taro Hakase Experience!

Musician, Composer, Entertainer

Thank you

On Friday 8th March 2012, Taro Hakase held a Charity Concert to mark the 2nd anniversary of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. The concert was held in the beautiful atmospheric St George’s Church in central London, the venue for many of the first performances of works by Handel.

As with Taro’s previous charity concerts, he managed to gather a wonderful group of musicians to perform an eclectic mix of pieces. However, the surroundings — the quiet history of the venue — gave the concert extra depth and emotion.

The packed church were treated to a duet with Taro and violinist Akiko Ono, accompanied by pianist Maciej Janas, and later to a solo by an elegant young lady and Taro’s daughter, Himari. Also joining him were the string ensemble of graduates from The Yehudi Menuhin School — Henry Tong on violin, Nazli Erdogan on viola, Sergio Serra on Cello, Rodrigo Moro on Double bass and Akiko Chiba on piano — making a beautiful sound.

The Japanese Ambassador to the UK, HE Mr Hayashi gave a thoughtful and supportive speech, echoing Taro’s desire to make the evening one that remembers but also looks forward.

A total of £11,594.02 (¥1,531,684) was raised on 16th May 2013 for the Ashinaga Foundation that helps those children who were orphaned by the Earthquake and Tsunami.

Thank you for your support.

Taro Hakase

(Click the image below to view the full PDF)