represented by

Micaela Haslam, Jenny Bacon, Amanda Morrison, Heather Cairncross, Andrew Busher, Gerard O'Beirne

"We hadn't worked with Ensemble Modern for a while and it was wonderful to see everyone again. On our first evening in Tokyo, after dinner at a nearby restaurant, we headed to the hotel bar where we ran into a few of the players. The following day was free for us so we could catch up with everyone gradually as we bumped into more of the players at breakfast and throughout the day. This couldn't have been better for Jenny who was new to the team on this tour. There are always so many names to remember, and at least she wasn't overwhelmed all at once. The hotel (Hilton Shinjuku) was (and I'm sure still is!) lovely, and breakfast was fantastic - a real "East meets West" feast. You could have croissant, raw fish, banana juice and noodles if you liked!

The concert hall, where we were also lucky enough to be able to rehearse (very rare!), was a bit of a walk from the hotel. Added to the fact that Mandy and I were involved in all the rehearsals, this meant that we didn't have a lot of sight-seeing time. Still, there's a lot of Tokyo to be experienced between Shinjuku and the Opera City Concert Hall.

Vibes and pianos for Daniel Variations

This was only the 2nd time EM had performed Daniel Variations and I was so pleased that they were doing it again. To be honest, I don't think the Ensemble took much to the piece the first time round. The fact that Brad Lubman was conducting this time, with Steve at the back of the hall, made all the difference. It's actually a very tricky piece to balance. One's instincts are often wrong, for example when the strings are "accompanying" the voices in the 3rd section, they should actually dominate the texture. Then when the pianos have funky patterns that feel as though they should be brought out, they often need to be tucked carefully into the texture. When we first performed the piece with Steve Reich & Musicians in 2006 at the Barbican, the rehearsals were a fascinating learning process for all of us, as the piece made its own demands on the listener. Anyway, it was great to be performing it again with EM.

An independent producer was making a Reich documentary for ARTE so we had cameras around all the time. During his 70th birthday bash in 2006, Steve was followed all over the world by people wielding cameras and microphones. I think he barely even notices them now!

Steve on Piano 4 - Music for 18

Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall is relatively new to the city. It certainly wasn't there when we used to tour with the Swingles in the '90's. It forms the base of a huge tower and the "ceiling" is a vast wooden pyramid. The acoustic is amazing but somewhat "live" for amplified music. Fortunately, we were once again in the very capable hands of Norbert Ommer (in-house sound engineer for Ensemble Modern).

Rehearsing in Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall

The "ceiling"

I just can't visit Tokyo without buying Japanese bowls - and there are so many to choose from in the big department stores. They're very reasonably priced, and you can't get them in John Lewis! I've got quite a few at home now, and I'm pleased to say that I haven't broken a single one in transit between Tokyo and London. Both Jenny and Mandy developed the same addiction quite quickly..

Crockery heaven

Jenny, Mandy and the amazing pink hedges of Tokyo

Our first concert in Tokyo with Ensemble Modern was a triumph. The audience went crazy for Steve's music which was lovely, knowing that Japanese concert-goers can be rather reserved. Jenny did a great job on sop 1 of Music for 18. Not a note out of place, and she made those repeated top B's sound easy - no mean feat!"

Micaela