About This Event

An intimate evening of Japanese songs in original contemporary arrangements for voice and classical guitar.

Japanese vocalist Yoko Wende and Dutch classical guitarist Bart Corver present an evening of Japanese music in original contemporary arrangements. Their program features selections from Yoko’s debut album The Path of the Wind (2018), a tribute to Japanese composers such as Ryuichi Sakamoto and Joe Hisaishi, alongside new work that reinterprets folk songs and contemporary compositions. Together, they create a poetic sound world where tradition and modern expression meet.

https://www.yokowende.com/

Video: https://youtu.be/CnHmn_yXVqY

About Yoko Wende

Yoko’s voice conveys powerful stories with intimacy and depth, rooted in her theatre training at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York, where she also appeared on stages including Carnegie Hall and La MaMa Theatre. After rising to prominence as a jazz singer in Hong Kong—where Time Out magazine hailed her as a “first-rate jazz singer”—she returned to her cultural roots with her debut album The Path of the Wind. The album was released at the international jazz festival Au Grès du Jazz in France, where the newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace praised her as “the Japanese artist who turned a garden of France into a Zen garden.” Now based in Amsterdam, Yoko seeks to bring the beauty of Japanese tradition and philosophy into the present through contemporary musical interpretation.

About Bart Corver

Bart Corver is a distinctive Dutch guitarist who is not only classically trained but also skilled in improvisation, arrangement, and capturing the spirit of Japanese music and philosophy. He studied at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Lex Eisenhardt (Early Music) and Johannes Möller (Technique), developing a strong focus on contemporary repertoire. Inspired by Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, he spent time in Japan to deepen his understanding of modern works. In collaboration with Yoko, he explores both traditional songs and contemporary compositions, creating new music where Japanese music and philosophy meet Western interpretation.