Bringing Japanese Music to Manchester: Programming Yu Kuwabara’s European Premiere

Posted by lookthing@gmail.com Category: Competitions, Featured

In September 2025, as Assistant Conductor of the Hallé and Music Director of the Hallé Youth Orchestra, Euan Shields programmed and conducted the European premiere of Yu Kuwabara‘s Falling Leaves, Moon Steps as part of Manchester’s Japan Week. The concert brought together shamisen soloist Hidejiro Honjoh and shakuhachi player Shozan Hasegawa with the Hallé Youth Orchestra.

Born in Osaka and raised in Tokyo, Shields saw this programming choice as an opportunity to connect his background with his current work in Manchester. The piece draws on Nō theatre traditions while creating dialogue between Japanese instruments and Western orchestra—a significant undertaking for a youth ensemble.

Kuwabara’s presence in rehearsals allowed the young musicians to work directly with the composer, learning about the cultural context behind the music. The score follows in the tradition of Tōru Takemitsu, whom Shields had previously programmed alongside Rachmaninov at The Bridgewater Hall, but moves further into distinctly Japanese sound worlds.

Continued Cross-Cultural Programming

This premiere built on Shields’s ongoing work presenting Japanese and Japanese-American composers in Manchester. Recent performances include Takemitsu’s A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden in the Hallé’s Rush Hour series and Hannah Ishizaki’s Odori with the Hallé Youth Orchestra.

Conducting Debuts in Japan

Shields will make his conducting debut in Japan later this season. He will lead the Osaka Symphony Orchestra on November 27, 2025, in a program featuring Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with soloist Yasuko Otani and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. His second Japanese debut follows on January 9, 2026, when he conducts the New Japan Philharmonic at Sumida Triphony Hall with pianist Kyohei Sorita in Weber’s Oberon Overture, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27, and Brahms’s Symphony No. 4.

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