MANGAS AND MEMES
Thursday 16.01.2025 at 6pm
Kuopio Symphony Orchestra
Aku Sorensen, conductor
Felix Zenger, beat boxing
Felix Zenger, a man of a thousand sounds and rhythms, brings symphonic beatboxing to Kuopio for the first time. The concert will include Zenger’s first own concerto, “Flare – Music for Beatbox and Orchestra”, a work composed for beatboxer and orchestra. “I’ve always been fascinated by new combinations of instruments, and one of my long-term dreams had been to compose a piece for beatboxer and orchestra that would contain features characteristic to electronic and urban rhythm music, but would still be played with completely real instruments,” Zenger says about the piece. Watch a short documentary about the making of Flare.
Fujiko’s Fairy Tale (Fujiko = Japanese maiden name meaning child of winter) is a journey into the world of Japanese anime and manga fairy tales, where dragons, ghost cats and magical superbeings rule reality. The music features oriental influences, hip hop/dance, and more traditional concert music combined with video game music from the 1980s and 90s.
Jennah Vainio’s ‘Fujiko’s Fairytale’ and my own work ‘Flare’ are both boundary-breaking concertos that combine rhythmic beatboxing and orchestral playing in a unique way. This will definitely be an unforgettable concert!”, says Felix excitedly.
The concert will begin with the overture from the opera The Barber of Seville, also famously known from the animated films Bugs Bunny. The guest virtual soloist of the evening will be a Lithuanian cat, Nora The Piano Cat feature in the CATcerto, created as an orchestral work by her host Mindaugas Piečaitis, accompanied by a multimedia work.
Duration approximately 1 hour 50 minutes, including interval.
Produced by the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra
Tickets: 20 € / 11 € children under 16 and students
Prices include the Kuopio Music Centre service fee 2 € / ticket. The service fees vary depending on the place of purchase.