DANCE! VIOLA!
In her new concert format “DANCE! VIOLA!” Hiyoli Togawa combines four different forms of expression: gesture, dance, music and language. At the beginning there is the silent gesture with the viola bow which slowly develops into a dance-like movement. From the silence emerge tones, sounds and, finally, music. However, the clever thing about it is that everything rests upon the hands or feet of the violist. Hiyoli Togawa, born a Rhinelander with Japanese-Australian roots, is not only a viola virtuoso of the first order but was trained as a ballroom dancer when she was still a child.
In the fast rhythm of music, dance and presentation popular and entertaining pieces alternate with works of the “great” classical repertoire. For the first time the concert audience here experiences a virtuoso of distinction, who plays and dances and also acts as presenter because Hiyoli Togawa aims at providing a link between the stage and the audience: playing, dancing and speaking.
For this purpose Hiyoli Togawa invites internationally renowned musicians that are “experienced in dance”: the star percussionist Alexej Gerassimez, Kristián Palágyi, one of the world’s most successful and versatile accordionists and the bass player Haggai Cohen-Milo. Each of them covers a multitude of musical styles and performing together they conjure up an impressive gamut of tone colours.
“Viola & Percussion – an enthralling combination of sound”
This exciting programme fascinates newcomers to classical music as well as aficionados because of its excellent balance of the popular and the new. Viola, subtle vocal parts, vibraphone, marimba, waterphone, gong and big drum are joined by the voice of Hiyoli Togawa, who fits in her own presentations time and again in order to build bridges between audience and stage.