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Beautifully shaped, deeply felt interpretations of Britten and Sibelius plus a vibrant world premiere distinguish this Seattle Symphony program led by guest conductor Kazem Abdullah and featuring violinist Augustin Hadelich.

A concerto and a symphony both in the key of E minor make an interesting pairing in this BBC Symphony Orchestra concert, whereas the phantasmagoria of stage lighting and two new works add very little.

Every August, the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra gives a concert to commemorate and reflect on the tragedy of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima on 6th August 1945.

Building on 15 years of collaboration with the ensemble, Gilded Wings (for two clarinets and strings) revealed a new maturity in Fujikura's always enjoyable music.

The Hiroshima Symphony promotes a war-free world through music.

On a program of musical works with imagery ranging from Mount Fuji to zygotes, the common thread was Japan and the sounds it has inspired over the past few decades.

The musical objects ranged from Phyllis Chen’s custom music-box to a Chinese food take-out box that sounded as if birds were chirping inside. Occasionally, the amalgam of twinkling noises was joined by a titter of laughter from the fascinated audience.

International Contemporary Ensemble’s debut London concert was a small-scale affair, tucked away in Hall 2 of Kings Place on a Sunday afternoon. But this talented group still gave us a great taste of why they’re such big news in the United States, with a pleasantly varied programme of new and recent music curated for them by Londoner and long-time collaborator Dai Fujikura.

The final concert in this day-long exploration of Japanese music turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag. It is likely that, with the exception of Toru Takemitsu, few average Western audiences would be familiar with the composers featured in this programme.

John Cage's unusual approach to composition is somewhat infamous. Thanks to his piano work 4'33" he's been firmly placed on the musical map as something of an oddball, and while that particular work may take his eccentric style to the extreme, the methods underlying his other works are equally intriguing.

Das Ensemble Insomnio fasziniert mit Werken von Francesconi bis Van der Aa.