The Tokyo-born Japanese pianist Masako Ohta is active in the fields of classical and new music, improvisation, film scoring and as a performative composer. In 2018/2019 she was awarded the Music Prize of the City of Munich and in 2016 the Giesinger Kulturpreis 2016. In October her new album “Mmmmh”, recorded with jazz trumpeter Matthias Lindermayr, will be released on the Squama label.
Monday: Unforgettable
The painter Magda Bittner Simmet (1916 to 2008) in her studio. The Künstlerhaus am Schwabinger Bach, built in 1972, is an insider tip for Masako Ohta.
(Photo: private)
Good morning from the West End! In the dewy Monday air, I cycle through the Wiesn, which has now been freed again after two months of being closed due to the big festival… wonderful! Monday is often my day off after a concert weekend, like yesterday, when as a “Sunday child” I was allowed to play on Magda’s 106th birthday at the Magda Bittner Simmet Foundation on her old piano. The artist’s studio-museum is an insider tip. The current exhibition “Don’t forget me!” with works by post-war Munich artists, including Kristine Osswald, is a fine treasure, also open on Mondays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday is also a cinema day. I leaf through the newspaper and look at the cinema programme. What’s on in the Theatiner and Arena today? Late in the evening I would like to listen to the radio at home, tonight the night mix “Blue Monday” from 11:05 p.m. on BR 2. Cheers and good night!
Tuesday: Brecht for trees
Masako Ohta performs together with the trumpeter Matthias Lindermayr in the Seidlvilla.
(Photo: Conny Mirbach)
Tonight I would like to cordially invite you all to “The flowing now…” from the MGNM series “Interrogated?” Composer portrait: Masako Ohta in the Seidlvilla at 8 p.m. “Her music hovers between improvisation and composition, and explores Japanese philosophy and the nature of sound,” reads the announcement. With the trumpeter Matthias Lindermayr we play compositions by me for our duo and I play piano pieces by Minas Borboudakis and by me as well as two Brecht songs for trees. May the music breathe, flow and reflect. The evening will be moderated by the journalist and contemporary music expert Rita Argauer.
Wednesday: Legendary video art
Installation view of the New York legend of performance and video art, Joan Jonas, at Haus der Kunst.
(Photo: Maximilian Geuter/Haus der Kunst / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2022)
Two impressive artists are currently being presented in Munich: the performance and media artist from New York, Joan Jonas at Haus der Kunst and Simone Fattal from Damascus with their clay sculptures and etchings in the Five Continents Museum. I would like to experience your exhibitions. The relationship between nature and artistic creation, how we feel our environment and the elemental power of nature in our body, the red threads continue: The works of Etel Adnan, artist and partner of Simone Fattal, will be exhibited in the Lenbachhaus from October 25th . Bravo! In between, I would like to enjoy a tasty and wholesome bowl at Tushita. With my favorite TCM tea, Augenklar, and vegan cake. Benefit for body and soul.
Thursday: Heart touching
The theatrical play of the young ensemble from the Munich Free Stage, currently in “Romeo and Juliet”, is authentic and heart-touching for Masako Ohta.
(Photo: Manuela Pickart)
I recently registered at the adult education center for Nordic Walking. I look forward to walking through Westpark together every Thursday morning. Thanks to the landscape architect Peter Kluska, I really enjoy running in the beautifully designed and naturally grown Westpark. I can feel his musical sense of line at every corner. The “Gans am Wasser” café is also part of it. Then I cycle to the new exhibition “Main thing” – hats, hoods, hip-hop caps from the Bavarian National Museum. I look forward to experiencing the variety of stories from the BNM treasure trove and old and new fine handicrafts up close… hats off! As with the previous exhibitions “Shoes” (1991) and “Bags” (2013), I really want to take part in the guided tours this time too. In the evening there are two options: Today the Freie Bühne Munich will play their “Romeo+Juliet” in the Kammerspiele. The theater play of the young ensemble is authentic and heart-touching. Today’s performance has long been sold out, and rightly so! Your pure passion is contagious. Further performances in Munich are on October 30th at the Small Theater Haar and on November 4th & 5th at the Schwere Reiter. The other option is at 8 p.m. in the foyer of Versicherungskammer Bayern in Giesing. “Paris qui dort”, a silent film concert composed by Yan Maresz, performed by the ensemble der/gelbe/klang conducted by Armando Merino. The agony of choice …
Friday: Fresh fish
Gallery owner Olga Zobel Biro with rings by Rothmann.
(Photo: Kinga Zobel)
Today the duo album “Mmmmh” by Matthias Lindermayr and I will be released at the Munich label Squama Recordings (Vinyl & CD) released. During the recording in the master mix studio, we improvised our compositions freely and felt as fresh as fish in a river. Cordial invitation to river landscapes! Our musical journey continues with live concerts around October 28th at 8 p.m. in Heppel and Ettlich. In the evening at 8 p.m. I would like to go to “God’s Formula” by Diego Tortelli + Miria Wurm in the Schwere Reiter. “The search for a score that unites all the forces of the cosmos.” On the way to Schwabing I would like to see your new exhibition “A View of Australia” at the Biró Gallery. “Jewelry is a communication” is always very inspiring.
Saturday: satirical story
At the heart of the Norwegian puppet theater piece “Simplicissimus” about the satirical magazine of the same name is the conflict between the artists Olaf Gulbransson and Theodor Heine.
(Photo: Tormond Lindgren/Theater Corpus, Norway)
I’m proud of the Japanese bakery and confectionery shops in Munich: Tanpopo in Neuhausen and Obori in Haidhausen. Everything from both confectionery masters tastes very fine. In line with this, I would like to look at the beautiful, colorful pictures by Tamami Kubota “Relations” in the Micheko gallery. The Artoxin gallery also offers a beautiful exhibition “Fundus” with the reform artist Konrad Loder. In the evening I want to see “Simplicissimus” by Theater Corpus (Norway) at Theater Hoch X at the Puppet Theater Festival “Wunder” and trace the path of one of my favorite artists, Olaf Gulbransson.
Sunday: Bechstein projects
Moving family history: The piano factory was founded by Carl Bechstein in Berlin in 1853, since 1992 C. Bechstein instruments have been produced in Seifhennersdorf, Saxony.
(Photo: Peter Hirth/laif)
Today I would like to invite my daughter’s young family to brunch with pancakes à la Masako with freshly ground spelled flour. Pancakes are our Sunday tradition. Then we go for a walk, maybe visit museums. I really love Sundays in Munich. The shops are closed and the city is relaxed, peaceful and comfortable. I’m from Tokyo and I pretty much know what I’m talking about. I think this dynamic of “on and off” is a good cultural attitude in the city of Munich. I hope it stays that way. In the evening I want to get on with my translation into Japanese of the book “The Bechsteins” by Gunna Wendt at home. It tells the moving story of the Bechstein piano company. For my solo CDs “Poetry Album” (2018) and “My Japanese Heart” (2020) on the Winter & Winter label, I played on a Bechstein grand piano. The Carl Bechstein Foundation is involved in social projects such as “Pianos for Primary Schools”, a great project.
The pianist, sound performer and composer completed her piano studies Masako Ohta at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo and at the Berlin University of the Arts with Erich Andreas and György Sebök. She also attended master classes with András Schiff and György Kurtág. She deals intensively with poetry, sound and music from Japan, Europe and other cultures and creates intercultural and interdisciplinary projects and concert series. Together with the Pathos Theater Munich, she initiated the “Imagine” Festival 2021 and the “Imagine” Yoko Ono Festival 2022. More information on their website www.masako-ohta.de.