Madalyn Kao and Eric Kao put Studio Ghibli in Concert together. Madalyn Kao says that she and Eric 'connected through music. We both got our undergraduate degrees at UNR in music. And while we were dating, I kind of introduced him to other genres of music, film being one of them.'
They both developed a love for Hayao Miyazaki's films, and for the music written for them by Joe Hisaishi. 'There was one year, I think it was shortly after COVID, we both bought each other Studio Ghibli music for piano and for cello as birthday gifts. From there, on our fifth wedding anniversary, we did a Studio Ghibli recital. And then we thought, we should open this up more to the public.'
'During COVID,' says Eric Kao, 'when I was actually kind of quite burnt out from doing all the piano accompanying in the classical music gigs, to just be able to isolate myself or ourselves from the world and just listen to Studio Ghibli, it allowed me to just be really inspired to study the film music, learn the harmonies, understand how Hisaishi just kind of takes us through the music and through the film.'
'Personally for me,' continues Madalyn Kao, 'what Studio Ghibli represents is my cultural heritage. I'm a fourth generation Japanese American. And Studio Ghibli was actually my first exposure to things like anime and manga and the greater art form that is available from Japan.'
Joe Hisaishi has written the music for all but one of Hayao Miyazaki's films, including such classics as My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle. There was much music for Madalyn and Eric Kao to choose from in creating their recital. 'What we primarily focused on,' says Madalyn Kao, were pieces we enjoyed. We have a couple friends who will be joining us for this recital, Brian Fox and Claire Tatman. They're both violinists, and we will be doing some string quartets. So when we got together, we asked them, too, what were your favorite films? What are some of your favorite pieces?'
Studio Ghibli in Concert is Thursday, July 9 at 7:00 p.m. at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 357 Clay Street in Reno. Admission is free. artown.org for more.
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Support for Arts on the Airwaves comes from the Nevada Arts Council, a state agency that provides public funding and support to artists and organizations, that benefit Nevadans in cities and rural communities statewide. More at NVArtsCouncil.org.
