I studied composition at the Hamburg University of Music from 1986 until 1989 when Ligeti retired.
To celebrate the centenary of György Ligeti’s birth, the book “György Ligeti im Spiegel seiner Hamburger Kompositionsklasse” (“Ligeti through a glass, and darkly, but face to face”) written by students of Ligeti was published in May 2023.
Taking this opportunity, we plan to hold lectures and concerts once a year from 2023 until 2026 – 20 years after Ligeti’s death.
The fourth and final event will be held on Thursday, September 17, 2026, at the Suginami Public Hall Small Hall.
For the lecture, György Ligeti’s son, Lukas Ligeti, will travel from Belgium to share insights about his father from both personal and professional perspectives.
The concert will feature a performance of Ligeti’s final major work, *Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedűvel* (With Pipes, Drums, Fiddles)—scored for mezzo-soprano and four percussionists—performed by mezzo-soprano Makiko Yamashita, acclaimed for her intellectual and deeply expressive artistry, alongside four outstanding young percussionists.
More information is below.
Lecture & Concert
4th Lecture & Concert
Thursday, September 17, 2026 Suginami Public Hall Small Hall
Part1 Lecture 17:15–18:30 (Doors open 16:45)
Theme: “Ligeti and Intercultural Music ” (Ligeti’s Final Message: Beyond Intercultural Music)
in the presence of Lukas Ligeti(Composer and percussionist. Professor of Composition at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.)
Welcoming Mr. Lukas Ligeti
Moderator: Satoru Takaku
Panelists: Lukas Ligeti, Kiyoshi Furukawa, Mari Takano, Hubertus Dreyer
Interpreter: Keiko Kodaka
Part2 Concert 19:00–21:00
Program
- Hubertus Dreyer / New Piece (Percussion and Piano) (2026)
New Piece - Hanspeter Reutter / Inner Voices (Piano Solo) (1993)
Innere Stimmen - Tamae Okazu / Shadow of a Butterfly (Piano Solo) (1984)
Schmetterlingsschatten - Manfred Stahnke / Imaginary Time / Real Time (Percussion and Piano) (2022)
temps imaginaire/reel - Sidney Corbett / Piano Valentine Nos. 2 & 12 (Piano Solo) (2022)
Piano Valentine Nr. 2 und 12 - Kiyoshi Furukawa / Days Gone By (Piano Solo) (2026)
Ein Rückblick auf eine vergangene Zeit - Mari Takano / Adieu and Rebirth (Vibraphone and Piano) (2014–15)
Adieu and Rebirth - Intermission
- György Ligeti / Out of Breath (No. 17 from Book 3 Etudes for Piano) (1995-2001)
À bout de souffle - Lukas Ligeti / Thinking Song (Marimba Solo) (2015)
Thinking song - György Ligeti / With Flute, Drum and Fiddle (Mezzo-soprano and Four Percussion Instruments) (2000)
Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedűvel
Performers
Mezzo-soprano: Makiko Yamashita
Percussion: Mizuki Aita, Reina Iwami, Shingo Takase, Masayuki Nino
Piano: Shoichiro Tanaka, Hubertus Dreyer, Toshio Nakagawa
Information
Lecture & Concert Fee: Advance 3,500 yen/ Door 4,000 yen (Entry from the concert is also possible)
Tickets：Peatix https://ligeti100v4.peatix.com
Venue：Suginami Public Hall, Small Hall
Organizer：György Ligeti 100th Anniversary Lecture & Concert Executive Committee
http://www.maritakano.com/
Inquiries：Contact: maricathd@nifty.com
Tel: 03-5373-2758
Supported by
：The Asahi Shimbun Foundation
：The Nomura Foundation
：The Kao Foundation for Arts and Sciences
：Japan Arts Fund
：Arts Council Tokyo [Grant for the Creation and Dissemination of Tokyo Arts and Culture (Single-year Grant)] — Artistic Creation Activities
Previous lecture and concert
1st Lecture & Concert
(Sunday, September 24, 2023, Ryogoku Monten Hall)
Part1 Lecture 17:00~18:30 (entrance 16:30)
Theme：“On Ligeti’s composition class in Hamburg, his life, and the transition of his ideas”
Moderator：Satoru Takaku
Panelists：Mari Takano, Kiyoshi Furukawa,
GuestPanelist：Hubertus Dreyer
Part2 Concert 19:00-20:30 (entrance 18:30)
Program
- Xiaoyong Chen / Floating Point (from Diary 2)(1999) / Wind, Water and Shadow (from Diary 3) (2004)
- Hubertus Dreyer/ Short Piece 1 (Wave) (1982/1983)
- Kiyoshi Furukawa / From “Aria and 18 Transformations” ~ No. 1, 4, 5, 7 (based on J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations) (2018)
- Mari Takano / Innocent (2000)
- Manfred Sternke / Partota (1986)
- Sidney Corbett / Piano Valentine No. 5 (1997), No. 11 (2007)
- György Ligeti / Etudes pour piano No. 7 (1989), No. 5 (1985), No. 6 (1985)
- Piano：Hubertus Dreyer
Information
Lecture & Concert Fee：3,500 yen (Entry from the concert is also possible)
Organizer：György Ligeti 100th Anniversary Lecture & Concert Executive Committee
Supported by：Arts Council Tokyo (Creation Grant)
2nd Lecture & Concert
Sunday, September 15, 2024 Ryogoku Monten Hall
Part1 Lecture 17:00-18:30 (entrance 16:30)
Theme： “Ligeti and Microtonality” (Towards microtonality and non-tonal tonality) Welcoming Mr.Manfred Stahnke
Moderator：Satoru Takaku
Panelists：Manfred Stahnke (online), Mari Takano, Hitomi Shimizu, Hubertus Dreyer
Part2 Concert “Sounds of Microtonality” 19:00~20:30 (entrance 18:30)
Program
- Hubertus Dreyer / Capra remix (for Electronics) (2024)
- Hitomi Shimizu / Fauna Grotesque (43 microtone scale)(1986) / Tower (Bohlen-Pierce scale) (2023)
- Hans Peter Reuter / Tres Piezas para Guitarra (for guitar solo) (2000)
- Mari Takano / SQL Crosscurrent (for 2 guitars, percussion) (2024)
- György Ligeti / Viola Sonata 1st, 2nd, and 6th movements (1991-94)
- Manfred Stahnke / Ansichten eines Käfers (for guitar solo) (1991)
- György Ligeti / L’escalier du diable (No.13 from Book 2 of Etudes for Piano) (1993)
Performers
Microtonal keyboard：Hitomi Shimizu,
guitar：Kouki Fujimoto,Tsunehito Tsuchihashi,
viola：Mari Adachi,
percussion：Mizuki Aita,
piano：Hubertus Dreyer
Information
Lecture & Concert Fee：3,500 yen (Entry from the concert is also possible)
Organizer：Gyorgy Ligeti 100th Anniversary Lecture & Concert Executive Committee
Supported by：The Asahi Shimbun Foundation
Supported by：Arts Council Tokyo (Creation Grant)
3rd Lecture & Concert
Thursday,September 18,2025 Suginami Public Hall Small Hall
Part1 Lecture 18:00-19:00(entrance 17:30)
Theme: “Ligeti and Computers” (A passion for the world of data processing)
in the presence of Georg Hajdu(Professor at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama/Director of the Ligeti Center)
Welcoming Mr.Georg Hajdu
Moderator: Satoru Takaku
Panelists: Georg Hajdu, Kiyoshi Furukawa, Mari Takano, Hubertus Dreyer
Interpreter: Keiko Kodaka
Part2 Concert 19:15-21:15
Program
- Hubertus Dreyer/Hungarian Peanuts (2015)*
- Manfred Sternke/Partota 7 (Song for Mother) (2000)*
- Kiyoshi Furukawa/Fractal Music (from “Music by Numbers”) (1992)*
- Georg Hajdu/Two Cartoons (1989/2006)*
- György Ligeti/Vertigo (No. 9 from Book 2 of Etudes for Piano) (1990)**
- Mari Takano/Marginal (for Piano and SuperCollider) (2021)
- Conlon Nancarrow/No. 21 from “Studies for Player Piano”*
- György Ligeti/ L’escalier du diable (No. 13 from Book 2 of Etudes for Piano) (1993)
- György Ligeti/ Coloana fara sfârşit (No.14 A from Book 2 of Etudes for Piano) (1994) *
- György Ligeti/ Coloana infinită (No. 14 from Book 2 of Etudes for Piano ) (1993)
- Gyorgy Ligeti/ Arc-en-ciel (No. 5 from Book 1 of Etudes for Piano )(1985) **
Performers
Piano: Shoichiro Tanaka, Akiko Fujita, Hubertus Dreyer, Aruki Fujikawa,
SuperCollider: Mai Takano,
electronics: Sumihisa Arima,
*: Disklavier performance, **: Disklavier and performer performance
Information
Lecture & Concert Fee：3,500 yen (Entry from the concert is also possible)
Tickets：Peatix https://ligeti100v3.peatix.com
Venue：Suginami Public Hall, Small Hall
Organizer：György Ligeti 100th Anniversary Lecture & Concert Executive Committee
http://www.maritakano.com/
Inquiries：Contact: maricathd@nifty.com
Tel: 03-5373-2758
Supported by
：The Asahi Shimbun Foundation
：Nomura Foundation
：The Kao Foundation for Arts and Sciences
：Japan Arts Fund
：Arts Council Tokyo [Grant for the Creation and Dissemination of Tokyo Arts and Culture (Single-year Grant)] — Artistic Creation Activities
Cooperation：Tokyo University of the Arts
Articles and books related to Ligeti written by Mari Takano
Book
Co-editor of “György Ligeti Im Spiegel seiner Hamburger Kompositionsklasse (through a glass, and darkly, but face to face…)”
May 2023
article “Ligeti and Folk Music”
Papers
①“György Ligeti “Etudes for piano (volume 1) – chords and penrose tiling”
11th Japan Society for Advanced Arts Research (JSSA) Asian Computer Music Project (ACMP) 2011 No.2 Japan Joint Conference
②”Experiential Composer Theory – Own Works and György Ligeti’s Composition Class”
March 2018 Ferris University School of Music Bulletin Volume 18
Magazine articles
①”Special interview with György Ligeti (about contemporary music)”
Ongaku no Tomosha “Ongaku Geijutsu” September 1989 issue
②“In memory of my teacher Ligeti”
Ongaku no Tomosha “Record Gei” August 2006 issue
③“Special feature commemorating the 100th anniversary of his birth – The unknown world of György Ligeti
January 27, 2023 Bravo ONLINE
Essay
“Memories of Master Ligeti”
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra Concert Program Symphony December issue December 2017
Track description
Program notes for the Suntory Summer Festival 1996
Suntory Music Foundation “Suntory Summer Festival” Program 1996” August 1996
“Ligeti In Kyoto”
Kyoto City “Ligeti Kyoto Prize Winner Workshop Program” February 2005
“Ligeti’s Requiem”
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra Concert Program Symphony July 2019 issue
“Ligeti’s Melodien”
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra Concert Program Symphony November 2019 issue
Newspaper article
Shinbun Akahata
Friday Masterpiece Museum 100th Anniversary of Ligeti’s Birth June 30, 2023
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