Keiichiro Shibuya
After graduating from the Tokyo University of the Arts with a B.A. in Music Composition, Keiichiro Shibuya founded the music label ATAK in 2002. His work encompasses various mediums, from innovative electronic music to piano solos, operas, film scores, and sound installations.
In 2012, Shibuya composed a Vocaloid opera with no human performers, The End, starring Hatsune Miku. The performance premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and has since toured around the globe. He collaborated with various artists and showed the opera at venues such as the Palais de Tokyo and Opéra national de Paris. In 2018, he composed the Android Opera®︎, Scary Beauty, which utilizes AI and stars a singing android that also conducts an orchestra. The opera has been shown in Japan, Europe, and the UAE. In August 2021, Shibuya’s opera, Super Angels, had its world premiere at the New National Theater Tokyo. In March 2022, he brought his new Android Opera®︎, MIRROR, a collaboration between an android, Buddhist music, shomyo, and an orchestra from the UAE, to Expo 2020 Dubai.
Furthermore, he has also scored for many films. In September 2020, he created the film score for Midnight Swan and won the 75th Music Award at the Mainichi Film Awards and the 30th Japan Movie Critics Award. In August, he composed the soundtrack for KAGUYA BY GUCCI, a short film, and appeared in it with an android. Shibuya recently established the Android and Music Science Laboratory (AMSL), a science laboratory of androids and music, at the Osaka University of Arts and currently teaches there as a visiting professor. He has also announced his collaboration with Sony CSL Paris to research AI and music further. He explores the boundary between technology and life and death.
ATAK：http://atak.jp
Twitter：@keiichiroshibuy
Instagram：@keiichiroshibuy
Photography Claude Gassian

Returning to the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris ten years after THE END

The stage was comprised of Android Alter 4 at its center, joined by Shibuya playing piano and electronic sonic elements, 47-piece orchestra Appassionato, five Buddhist monks reciting Koyasan chants, and a video by Justine Emard, an artist and old friend of Shibuya’s. This dense musical experience created by humans and AI was both complex and brilliant. The Théâtre du Châtelet, the oldest theater in Paris, filled with discomfort, tension, and even confusion, but culminated in a festive feeling by the end of the performance, as predicted by Alter 4’s declaration: “Let’s celebrate this new experience together”.

Shibuya and the Théâtre du Châtelet share a deep connection. In 2013, the venue’s then-manager Jean-Luc Choplin was so struck by Shibuya’s vocaloid opera THE END that he booked a performance for the coming months then and there. The production subsequently toured many countries, becoming the catalyst for Shibuya’s work in Europe. Later, he held solo concerts at the same theater and was offered a studio there, establishing the Théâtre du Châtelet as his European base. Ten years after THE END, MIRROR premiered at the same theater on the 21st, coincidentally coinciding with Paris Fashion Week and the day of Fête de la musique, an all-night national music festival in France.

An unparalleled musical experience created by humans and an Android/AI

Even before the performance began, the reveal of moving lights enhanced the space and added to the audience’s excitement. The stage was surrounded by layered curtains and an ambience created by the five tiers of seating, and electronic sounds could be heard faintly just before curtain. As the lights dimmed, the overture “MIRROR” began, which also served as a heartbeat-like sound. The curtain rose as the sound of a conch shell rang out, revealing over fifty people on stage including the orchestra Appassionato, Shibuya, and the five monks. The android Alter 4 stood in the center, towering over everyone.

The metallic gleam and unusual appearance of Alter 4 attracted everyone’s gaze. “Android is a Mirror”,  echoed the Android’s artificial voice, while the orchestra and chants by the five monks, including Eizen Fujiwara, were layered on top. With the addition of Justine Emard’s visual performance, the overture ended with a declaration from Alter 4: “Let’s celebrate this new experience together”. This was immediately followed by a transition into “Scary Beauty”, accompanied by the sound of the hachi (a cymbal-like instrument used in Buddhist music).

The combination of graceful orchestration and complex dissonance captivated the audience. Alter 4’s singing and the monks’ chanting worked in tandem, leading to an over-stimulating climax. Alter 4’s undeniable presence and the epic spectacle created by humans, robots, and artificial intelligence left the audience excited, tense, and somewhat confused.

Recitative improvised by monks and an Android

Afterward, following stage banter in French (where Alter 4 humorously referred to itself as an embodiment of AI, stating that all the words it speaks are written by ChatGPT), the performance continued with three recitatives featuring Alter 4 and the monks standing in front of computer graphics generated from 3D point cloud data scanned from Fujiwara’s temple landscape. In these recitatives, the AI, a.k.a. ChatGPT, interpreted the texts of the chants sung along with the electronics sounds, and created lyrics from there. Alter 4 improvised obligato on the spot as the chants’ responses. These improvisations created unique moments in each of the three performances, with the ever-changing chants from the monks and the AI creating an extreme contrast between “the monks singing the oldest music” and “the Android interpreting and singing it”. This portion of the performance garnered significant attention not only during the show but also from the media later on.

The third piece was an orchestral version of “BORDERLINE”, an electronic music piece released last year. The orchestration provided a beautiful backdrop to Alter 4’s artificial voice with Fujiwara’s solo chant seamlessly intertwined. Alter 4 calmly singing about the end of the world juxtaposed with the chants and orchestra’s music echoed like a requiem for the apocalypse.

“The End of Europe” parodied by Android and orchestras, world peace prayed by monks

Next came “On Certainty”, featuring excerpts from a Wittgenstein text. In this piece, Shibuya left the stage, allowing Alter 4 to take its solo, accompanied by the orchestra. Parts of Mahler’s orchestral piece were repeated and changed, while Alter 4 sang a long sustained note impossible for a human singer. This led to a sudden climax that parodied “the end of Europe”. Alter 4 flawlessly sang complicated music without human intervention from Shibuya or the monks, while the music was created by automatically converting from the text of Wittgenstein to the score. This solo from Alter 4 was met with a positive response and applause from the audience, which left a lasting impression.

The scene where the monks chanted while circling Alter 4 in the processional was followed by the dramatic “The Decay of the Angel”, prompted by Hoshin Tani’s powerful chant. The audience’s excitement soared as the performance reached another climax during “Midnight Swan”, where the monks incorporated elaborate rituals using Buddhist scriptures to pray for world peace.

Each song’s dramaturgy and sensory stimulation provided no respite for the audience. Following a serene interlude, Alter 4, the monks, and Shibuya’s Prophet 10 finally engaged in the last recitative, a communication between the monk and the Android. Subsequently, a multi-layered orchestral version of “I Come from the Moon”, the soundtrack for last year’s acclaimed short film Kaguya by Gucci, played. Alter 4’s girlish, artificial voice in the chorus contrasted with its androgynous character beautifully. As it responded to the monks’ voices, it transformed while passionately singing and dancing in response to the message of the song.

“Lust”, the epic last song about affirmations of desire, and the encore song “Scary Beauty”, performed by Shibuya and the Android

Lastly, the performance ended with “Lust”, a newly composed song for this performance. Set to a beautiful melody that evoked areligious brilliance, the song featured Alter 4 singing affirmations of desire based on the “Rishukyo”, a scripture of esoteric Buddhism, founded upon the “Jyushichi Shoujo Ku” chant, sang by the monks. The monks circled around Alter 4 once again, as if in eternal rotation, while chanting the name of the Dainichi Nyorai (The Cosmic Buddha), gradually slowing down yet never stopping, symbolizing the cycle of life and rebirth. The chants, the music and Alter 4’s soaring high notes converged into a brilliant climax under the bright lights before the curtain fell. Powerful applause and cheers filled the theater.

For the encore after the curtain call, Shibuya and Alter 4 performed “Scary Beauty” while gazing at each other. The audience, who might have been somewhat overwhelmed by sensory overload during the main performance, now expressed even stronger praise, prompting a long, second curtain call.

The current state of Android Opera®️, where humans and technology conflict

In Android Opera®️ “MIRROR”, Shibuya composed a new song exclusively for this performance, along with seven other pieces for which he arranged the orchestration. The entire performance, twelve pieces including the recitatives and the encore, lasted over seventy minutes. Alter 4’s artificial voice sang over the orchestra, Shibuya’s piano and his electronic sounds, while the Koyasan chants were overlaid, providing a stark contrast to the rest of the sound. In between songs, a recitative in which Alter 4 improvised responses to the monks’ chants developed.

The lyrics sung by Alter 4 were taken from texts by “human” novelists and philosophers such as Michel Houellebecq and Ludwig Wittgenstein, paired with texts by GPT, or AI. In other words, ChatGPT interpreted the texts of esoteric Buddhism, generating the themes for the songs and the lyrics for Alter 4’s improvisations in real-time during the recitatives and other pieces. This interaction between humans and technology is different from the previous approach where the performances were conducted by the autonomy of artificial intelligence. This new method constitutes the current state of Android Opera®️.

Shibuya’s incorporation of technology into his creations and his approach to blurring the boundaries between life and non-life have attracted significant attention from local media interested in AI and creation. Although the challenges of Android Opera®️, which has been ongoing since 2014, achieved certain results with “MIRROR”, both the artist and the work are still on a journey of further evolution. Keiichiro Shibuya’s work is far from being overlooked, and we can anticipate even more from him in the future.

Part of the performance video will be available for public viewing from today, while the full video is scheduled for online distribution as part of the Japan Foundation’s “STAGE BEYOND BORDERS” program in February 2024.

Translation Mimiko Goldstein

■Program
01. MIRROR
02. Scary Beauty
03. Recitativo 1
04. BORDERLINE
05. On Certainty
06. Recitativo 2
07. The Decay of the Angel
08. Midnight Swan
09. Recitativo 3
10. I come from the Moon
11. Lust
12. Encore – Scary Beauty

■Android Opera®︎ MIRROR at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris
Date: June 21st – 22nd – 23rd, 2023
Place: the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris
Official web site: https://www.chatelet.com/programmation/saison-2022-2023/android-opera-mirror/

■Credit
Concept, composition, piano, electronics: Keiichiro Shibuya
Lyrics: exerpts from The Possibility of an Island of Michel Houellebecq, On Certainty of Ludwig Wittgenstein*, as well as generated by GPT technology
Vocal: Android – Alter4
Buddhist Chant: Eizen Fujiwara, Yasuhiro Yamamoto, Taiko Kashihara, Hoshin Tani, Shoei Kametani members of the ensemble Koyasan Shomyo
Video creation: Justine Emard
Android programming: Shintaro Imai
Android design: Hiroshi Ishiguro
Orchestra Appassionato

*Courtesy of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College Cambridge, translated into French by Danièle Moyal Sharrock © Editions Gallimard.

Artistc direction: Keiichiro Shibuya
Orchestration: Keiichiro Shibuya
Sound design: Yuki Suzuki
Production sound engineer: Unisson Design
Light design: Go Ueda
Android real-time projection: Kotaro Konishi
Stage Manager: So Ozaki
Assistant of Justine Emard: Bérangère Pollet, with the software assistance of Thomas Zaderatzky
Assistant of production: Shigeru Ogawa

Recording
Sound recording: Unisson Design, François Baurin
Filming: Jérémie Schellaert

Communication: Thierry Messonnier
Graphic design: Ryoji Tanaka (Semitransparent Design)

Direction of production: Natsumi Matsumoto
Production: ATAK

Co-réalisation: Théâtre du Châtelet, ATAK, The Japan Foundation

Android – Alter4 belongs to Osaka University of Arts
Technical Support: NATIVE INSTRUMENTS, Yamaha Corporation, YAMAHA MUSIC JAPAN CO., LTD., Sibelius by Rygasound, Genelec, Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc.
Android Music and Science Laboratory: Kawagoshi Sota, Kento Tanaka, Takumi Morimoto
Assistant of orchestrastion and production of music scores: Hiroto Kikukawa, Yuto Moritani, Yoko Nishimura

Special thanks to Kazuyo Sejima & Associates, Aya Soejima, Noriko Carpentier-Tominaga, Takashi Ikegami, Kenshu Shintsubo, Ayaka Endo, Nino Satoru, Christophe Brunnquell, Jean-Luc Choplin

The post Android Opera®︎ MIRROR, a Live Report From the Paris Théâtre du Châtelet: Series “MASSIVE LIFE FLOW —  Keiichiro Shibuya’s Current Thoughts”, Part 11 appeared first on TOKION - Cutting edge culture and fashion information.

“MIRROR” is a new android opera woven together by unique “outsiders” like Keiichiro Shibuya, android Alter3, Mount Koya shomyo (Buddhist chanting) monks led by Shingon monk Eizen Fujiwara, and NSO Symphony Orchestra, an orchestra from the UAE. The opera was set to take place in December of last year as part of the main program of Japan Day at Expo 2020 Dubai, but it got canceled last minute due to the global spread of the omicron variant. However, the passionate work ethic of Shibuya came to fruition; he showed the long-awaited opera for the first time this March on the Jubilee Stage at Expo 2020 Dubai. Shigeru Ogawa, who watched the performance, details the possibilities and revolutionary aspects of “MIRROR.” 

The marriage of poetry by an android, shomyo by monks, electronic sounds, and the piano 

March 2nd, 2022: Jubilee Stage at Expo 2020 Dubai during sunset. It was a laidback space, similar to an outdoor festival, with artificial grass in front of the stage and people carrying beanie bags to their desired spot to relax. But on that day, something in the air was a bit different. The anticipation of those who came to witness the world premiere of “MIRROR,” an android opera announced last minute, made others feel slightly nervous. 

“Android is a mirror”—the opera started with android Alter3 reading poetry on top of an extended electronic sound. “Music is a mirror”—a 60 BPM beat kicked in. “It is a reflection of yourselves”—as the android said each phrase in a solemn manner, master of Buddhist music, Eizen Fujiwara began chanting, creating a strong contrast between the two. When I thought they covered everything, Alter3 asked, “What is the boundary between existence and non-existence?”

Android Alter3 was at the center of the stage under LED lights, with a shiny metal body and a realistic noh-like mask akin to the texture of human skin. Facing it were four monks from Mount Koya adorned in magnificent Kesa / 袈裟 (Buddhist robe). Alter3 and Fujiwara appeared on the LED screen, looking like sculptures rendered by a 3D scan, and Alter3’s words were displayed there, too. The visuals made by Justine Emard, a visual artist who’s collaborated with Shibuya numerous times, shocked my senses. Onstage, the android and monks stood opposite one another, and their performance resembled the ocean becoming full after the ebb and flow of the waves. This was when Shibuya finally started playing the piano. “Let’s celebrate this new experience together”—Alter3 repeated these celebratory words, indicating the start of the show. “Mirror,” the same name as the opera, reached its apex with control despite the voluminous and multilayered nature of the song.

A rich, multifaceted experience born from the addition of an orchestra

The tempo picked up smoothly and transitioned into the second song. On Shibuya’s cue, the NSO Symphony Orchestra, comprised of 45 people, added even more volume. But the four monks’ presence didn’t lose against the orchestra at all. The audience was exposed to a musical experience from another dimension. The orchestra repeated the theme on top of a bass-heavy track while the piano and shomyo intertwined. Amid this, Alter3 began singing “Scary Beauty.” I couldn’t hold my soaring emotions inside, as the performance had such an intimacy that contrasted the openness of the Jubilee Stage. I couldn’t believe we were still on the second song and that only seven minutes had passed since the show started. That’s how intense the android opera “MIRROR” was.

The opera was scheduled to be shown on December 11th of last year at Expo 2020 Dubai as part of the main program of Japan Day. But the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry drastically reduced the number of acts for Japan Day out of concerns over the worldwide spread of omicron, and the opera got canceled last minute. Shibuya was humble enough to continue working with passion, which paid off. “MIRROR” came back as part of the Japan Pavilion’s event and had its world premiere on the Jubilee Stage at Expo 2020 Dubai on March 2nd. (You can read about Shibuya traveling to the UAE on his own dime to ask for a chance to perform after the cancellation of his opera here).

The opera consists of music by Keiichiro Shibuya, piano music, electronic sounds, singing, autonomously generated texts (lyrics) by android Alter3, Buddhist music and shomyo with a history of 1,200 years by four Shingon monks led by Eizen Fujiwara, and the NSO Symphony Orchestra from the UAE, who have worked with Shibuya before. It’s easy to see how this is a grand, intricate, and exciting project that intersects many contexts related to both time and space, such as history, culture, faith, and technology. It’s also understandable that Shibuya was particular about having the world premiere at Expo 2020 Dubai—held for the first time in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa— in Dubai, with the Muslim port city’s history and livelihood made possible through the cooperation of migrants, which make up over 90% of the population.

There’s one more thing I’d like to mention. On February 24th, Russia invaded Ukraine, right before the opera’s showing. I faced the day of the opera with a shock involving the: fear of the Russian army gaining control of Chernobyl and recklessly using nuclear reactors, shocking announcement that nuclear weapons were an option, heavy economic sanctions that excluded Russia from using SWIFT, deliberate attack on a nuclear power plant, and eye-opening imagery of the rapid, maddening inventiveness [of the army]. In fact, there was a moment during rehearsals when the thunderous roar of fighter jets circled above us, and the performers stopped playing their instruments. Whether we liked it or not, our five senses were heightened when the android opera “MIRROR” started. How were we so stimulated despite it being just 30 minutes long? I’d like you to picture it. 

A performance that straddles the line between the living and non-living

After “Scary Beauty” finished, there was a short interval in which the venue erupted with applause. Surprisingly, Alter3 made a lighthearted comment about the following two songs, “The lyrics are written by AI, that is to say, by me” That naturally prompted laughter and cheers from the audience. However, this was no laughing matter. Alter3 sang English lyrics, a result of making the AI study a Buddhist sutra written 1,200 years ago. The harmony of the on-the-spot layering of Alter3’s singing, which mimicked the original shomyo by the four monks, transcended time and space, not just metaphorically. Alter3’s comment that it was happy to perform there sounded so sincere. It seemed as though the audience no longer felt unsettled by the android singer’s appearance and voice.

Before and after the third song, “The Decay of the Angel,” there was a sequence where Fujiwara and Alter3 faced one another. The former chanted while the latter sang. Although its voice was clearly not human, something about it drew the audience in. Its mechanical body and fingers moved intricately in response to the interactive music. As a matter of fact, rather than using a predetermined and programmed melody, Alter3 improvised a song in real-time after listening to Fujiwara’s shomyo. Fujiwara accepted Alter3 as it was, put his palms together, and chanted while facing it. It was a powerful sight; it was as if they were treading the line between the living and non-living. Fujiwara wrote the following on social media: “I faced the android and chanted with my whole heart, intending to become one and merge with it.” In esoteric Buddhism, the concept of Sokushin Jobutsu points to the attainment of enlightenment and becoming a Buddha in one’s corporeal body. Perhaps Fujiwara has no distinction between becoming one with Alter3, Buddha statues, and the mandala. He may view them all as the same, as incarnations of Dainichi Nyorai. Fujiwara didn’t seek to act out a role in a play but rather to identify with Alter3 wholeheartedly. No doubt, the power born through this heightened Alter3’s aliveness. As such, beyond Fujiwara’s excellent skills as a “singer” and shomyo expert, his nature as a Shingon monk is an essential element that affects the soul of the project. Fujiwara might’ve simply been approaching this opera like he was praying and practicing austerity as usual.

(You can read about how Alter3 underwent changes behind the scenes and gained an animated voice and movement, thanks to electronic musician and programmer Shintaro Imai here).

A festive and intense feeling; 30 minutes filled with possibilities

The songs “Scary Beauty,” performed in Adelaide in 2017, and “The Decay of the Angel,” performed in Tokyo in 2018, are staples of Shibuya’s android opera. On that day, however, the songs were performed more spectacularly than usual because of the NSO Symphony Orchestra’s bold and powerful performance, the collaboration of shomyo, the new lively arrangement and composition that took into account the outdoor venue at Expo 2020 Dubai, and the stage direction that utilized a massive LED screen and moving lights. The audience enjoyed the element of surprise, and at times Alter3 looked like a rock star under the glaring lights.

The fourth and last song was “Midnight Swan.” Shibuya won the Music Award at the 75th Mainichi Film Awards and other soundtrack awards for this theme song for a film. In the introduction, shomyo was overlayed on a lyrical melody by the piano and strings. What looked like falling cherry blossoms on the LED screen was, in fact, a point cloud graphic of the exterior of Fujiwara’s temple, which Justine Emard visited and made a 3D scan out of. The tempo increased following the timpani, and as Alter3 sang the lyrics it wrote by itself, other factors such as the orchestra, beats, and noise overlapped like a torrent, increasing the volume at once. The monks repeatedly skimmed through Daihanya-kyo aloud (swiftly turning the pages of a heavy sutra above their heads) with all their might, and the loud sutra chanting and shomyo filled the bright stage with festiveness. The performance ended gracefully as the orchestra, piano, and Alter3 probed for the perfect balance. Then, the Monks’ shomyo was shown on the screen in English: “May the world be peaceful.” They said they chose this shomyo a year ago. Who would’ve imagined these words would resonate so much? While I was thinking about this, the opera ended quickly with a short curtain call.

The world premiere of the android opera “MIRROR” lasted less than 30 minutes, but it was a rich experience. I’ll remember how I was at that place and at that time for a while.

For an only a limited time, the full-length performance can be viewed at the following website:

Japan: Android Opera, MIRROR | World Expo

Japanese musician and composer Shibuya Keiichiro presents the world premiere of his new Android Opera, MIRROR.

virtualexpo.world

Android Opera MIRROR
Concept, Composition, Direction, Piano, Electronics: Keiichiro Shibuya
Buddhist Music: Eizen Fujiwara, Yasuhiro Yamamoto, Jien Goto, Hoshin Tani
Orchestra: NSO Symphony Orchestra

Artists & Crew
Android Programming : Shintaro Imai
Visual: Justine Emard
Lighting: Go Ueda
Sound: Yuki Suzuki
Technical Management: So Ozaki
Project/Production Management: Natsumi Matsumoto

Production: ATAK
Organizing: Japan Pavilion

Keiichiro Shibuya
Keiichiro Shibuya is a musician who graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts with a B.A. in Music Composition. In 2002, he founded the music label ATAK. His diverse soundscape covers areas such as cutting-edge electronic music, piano solos, opera, soundtrack music, sound installation, and so forth. His notable works include a Vocaloid opera comprised of no people called “The End” (2012) and the android opera “Scary Beauty” (2018). In September 2020, he created the music for the film Midnight Swan and won the Music Award at both the Mainichi Film Awards and the Japan Movie Critics Award. In August 2021, his opera “Super Angels” had its world premiere at New National Theater Tokyo. In March 2022, he showed his new android opera, “MIRROR,” a collaboration between an android, Buddhist music, shomyo, and an orchestra from the UAE, at Expo 2020 Dubai. He explores the boundary between humans and technology and life and death.
http://atak.jp
Photography Mari Katayama

Photography Sandra Zarneshan（©︎ATAK）
Translation Lena Grace Suda
Edit Takahiro Fujikawa

The post The world premiere of Keiichiro Shibuya’s android opera, “MIRROR,” at Expo 2020 Dubai — “Massive Life Flow; Inside the Mind of Keiichiro Shibuya” Part 5 appeared first on TOKION - Cutting edge culture and fashion information.