HIDEAKI HIRAI
Music Director and Conductor
Join the N Y "festival" Orchestra to Celebrate the Spirit of the Great Composers!
CARNEGIE HALL DEBUT! "Maestro Hirai made a remarkable Carnegie Hall debut in front of an audience of about 3,000 people who recognized his outstanding job with the New York Festival Orchestra."
- New York Cultural Examiner -
～Let's Celebrate NYFO's Exciting Season!!～
New York Festival Orchestra (NYFO) will present an exciting series of concerts with everyone's favorite masterworks by great composers as well as unique repertoire. It would be our great pleasure to have you at our concerts.
TO SUPPORT
OPERA, “THE WHITE FOX” !!
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HIDEAKI HIRAI: OPERA, "THE WHITE FOX" Showcase
< U. S. premiere>
Original Libretto:
Tenshin (Kakuzo) OKAKURA
Japanese Translation, Libretto and Music:
Friday, May 2, 2025 at 7:00 pm
Merkin Hall, Kaufman Music Center
129 West 67th Street (Bet. Broadway & Amsterdam)
New York, NY 10023
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©Terufumi Ueno
Hideaki Hirai, Music Director/ Conductor
"The White Fox" by Atsuki Settangeli, Painter
Manami Hattori, Soprano
Ryoichi Nakai, Tenor
Yuichi Toyoshima, Baritone
Cast Change Announcement:
- Roles of Kolha & Kuzunoha
Due to illness, Asako Tamura will not be able to perform in this performance. Manami Hattori will sing the role of Kolha and Kuzunoha.
We appreciate your understanding.
Motomi Tanaka, Soprano
Shoji Nagatomi Baritone
Kyo Kasumi,
Fight Director/Choreographer
The New York Festival Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Hideaki Hirai, will present the U. S. premiere of the OPERA, "THE WHITE FOX" .
The Opera, “The White Fox” is based on the original English libretto by a legendary Japanese scholar TENSHIN OKAKURA (1863-1913), widely-known for his best-seller, “THE BOOK OF TEA”, published in 1906 (New York).
In 2013, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Okakura's death, Maestro Hideaki Hirai successfully completed as an Opera in 3 acts with Japanese translation, libretto and music.
The U.S. premiere of the entire opera will be held at MERKIN HALL of Kaufman Art Center, in collaboration with astonishing Atsuki Settangeli’s paintings as stage art.
NYFO is proud to present our Music Director, Hideaki Hirai's own acclaimed Opera, "The White Fox", featuring a NY-based renowned Japanese Soprano, Manami Hattori, 4 other brilliant soloists from Germany, New York and Tokyo as well as an award-winning stellar "Tate" Sword master, Kyo Kasumi, as Fight Director, New York Festival Chorus & Children's Chorus and Members from Circle Wind Boys & Girls Choir.
It will absolutely be an unforgettable operatic evening not to be missed!
<Program>
Hideaki Hirai: Opera,"THE WHITE FOX" (in 3 Acts/Japanese)
- U. S. premiere
Original Libretto: Tenshin (Kakuzo) OKAKURA
Japanese Translation, Libretto and Music: Hideaki HIRAI
Conductor/Stage Director: Hideaki HIRAI
Stage Art: Atsuki SETTANGELI
Fight Director/Choreographer: Kyo KASUMI
CAST:
Kolha/Kuzunoha: Manami HATTORI, Soprano
Yasuna: Ryoichi NAKAI, Tenor
Ackeimon: Yuichi TOYOSHIMA, Baritone
Damsel/Fox Maiden/Pilgrim: Motomi TANAKA, Soprano
Huntsman/Soldier/Pilgrim: Shoji NAGATOMI, Baritone
Supporting Actors: Kyo Kasumi, Milai Taguchi and Norihiro Maruta
Chorus: New York Festival Chorus & Children's Chorus,
Members from Circle Wind Boys & Girls Choir
Orchestra: New York Festival Orchestra
Produced by New York Festival Orchestra (FORTE 90, Inc.) and ARIOSO LLC
Presented by BV Artists International (New York)
Tickets: Prime $70, Regular $50
Senior & Children $40
Box Office: 212-501-3330
NYFO Office: 718- 232-3712
E-mail: info@NYFO.org
Supported by Robert Crowder Foundation, Y.K. Transasset, Sengokudama, Atelier73, Circle Wind Boys & Girls Choir, Hideaki Hirai Opera Chorus, TATE Hatoryu NY, Ibaraki Prefectural People's Opera Association, Myoko Byakko Club Chorus, Myoko City Board of Education, Myoko Cultural Promotion Agency and many other corporate/individual supporters.
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A SHORT SYNOPSIS:
In Japanese folk-lore, the fox is credited with supernatural powers, and can assume human shape - especially that of a young maiden. From this idea has sprung many a romantic story. The present play is based on the well-known legend of the Fox of the Shinoda Forest. In the absence of a wife, the fox takes her form and lives happily with the husband until the return of the true partner forces the pretended wife to leave in sorrow.
Excerpts from the OPERA, "THE WHITE FOX" (in 3 Acts/in Japanese）
by Hideaki HIRAI （Children's Chorus, Female Chorus, Aria,"Song to the Moon"）
