Kanako Abe
Kanako Abe | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 23, 1973 Ōsaka, Ōsaka prefecture, Japan |
| Occupation(s) | Conductor, composer, pianist |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Known for | Conducting contemporary music, founding ensemble Multilatérale |
Kanako Abe (; born 23 March 1973 in Ōsaka, Ōsaka prefecture) is a Japanese conductor, composer, and pianist currently residing in The Hague, Netherlands. She has interpreted compositions by modern composers including Tōru Takemitsu, Michaël Levinas, Régis Campo, and Bushra El-Turk.
Life and career
Abe was born in Osaka in 1973 and began her piano studies at a young age under her mother's guidance. She pursued music education at Sōai University and attended a high school affiliated with the music faculty of the Tokyo University of the Arts, where she also completed her composition studies. Furthering her training at the Conservatoire de Paris, she mastered seven disciplines such as harmony, counterpoint, fugue, instrumentation, composition analysis, accompaniment, and conducting. Her teachers included Masayuki Nagatomi (composition), Jean Körner (piano), Marc-André Dalbavie (instrumentation), along with conductors János Fürst and Péter Eötvös.
In 2005, Abe established the Paris-based ensemble Multilatérale, taking on the role of its musical director. The following year, she conducted Michaël Levinas's opera at the 50th Venice Biennale. By 2023, she had premiered more than 180 contemporary works. Between 2008 and 2009, she was deputy conductor at the Opéra national de Montpellier, collaborating with Lawrence Foster, Jerzy Semkow, and Alain Altinoglu.
She conducted the world premiere of Dalbavie's opera Gesualdo at the Zürich Opera House in 2010 and acted as deputy kapellmeister under Fabio Luisi for Alfredo Casella's La donna serpente in 2014. Abe has recorded five albums as both pianist and conductor featuring compositions by Tōru Takemitsu. In 2012, she was awarded the Prix Italia for a radio opera. Her partnerships include performances with the Pasdeloup Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lorraine, Orchestra Nipponika, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble l'Itinéraire, and Smash Ensemble.
After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Abe chaired the executive committee organizing a charity concert at UNESCO headquarters in Paris and conducted the volunteer-driven Japon Aide Orchestra. Since 2013, she has presided over the Association Franco-Japonaise de la Musique Contemporaine (日仏現代音楽協会). From 2014 onward, Abe has held positions as musical director of the Indonesian Youth Symphony Orchestra and artistic director of Musica Universalis.
In April 2022, she led the world premiere of British composer Bushra El-Turk's multimedia opera Woman at Point Zero during the Aix-en-Provence Festival. This work is based on Egyptian author Nawal El Saadawi's novel. The production was revived in June 2023 at London's Linbury Theatre (Royal Opera House) to widespread critical praise. Gary Naylor of BroadwayWorld awarded it five stars, emphasizing Abe's conducting as essential to crafting an "aural dreamscape."
For the 2022–23 season, Abe serves as music director of France’s Orchestre Symphonique des Dômes located in the Auvergne region. In Japan, she has been music director for ensembles including Ensemble Orochi, Tokyo Ensemble Factory, and Ensemble Muromachi. She remains president of the Association Franco-Japonaise de Musique Contemporaine, fostering contemporary musical exchanges between France and Japan.
Selected discography
- Régis Campo: Music to Hear, Piano Concerto (1998/1999)
- Tōru Takemitsu: Complete Works for Piano (2004)
- Colin Roche: La Robe des Choses (2005)
- Régis Campo: Pop-art (2006)
- Noëls Anciens (2022)
- Mendelssohn / Tailleferre / Canat de Chizy / Clyn / El-Turk / Holmès / Pépin (2023)