In the foyer, a family workshop was in full swing. A huddle of under-12s listened intently to Japan-born, Britain-based composer Dai Fujikura. Several delighted non-children sidled up to tuned percussion instruments laid out on a table. There were instructions and paper for making an origami frog.
These were cheery attempts to contextualise BCMG’s programme: an all-Japanese first half by Misato Mochizuki and Fujikura – including the world premiere of the latter’s new Shō Concerto – followed by Korean composer Unsuk Chin’s Xi for Ensemble and Tape. But hold fire on the east-meets-west cliches. Fujikura moved to the UK aged 15 and first encountered the shō at Darmstadt in his 20s. As he explained in a pre-concert talk, Japanese instruments are all “new” to him.
