Mieko Miyazaki

The duo formed by Mieko Miyazaki and Franck Wolf displays a rare originality and a rapport that cannot fail to move the listener.

In their music, boundaries do not exist. It is solely their inexhaustible desire to discover and explore that leads them to traverse the different worlds that are intrinsically part of them. The saxophone’s inspired melodies thus mingle with the spellbinding elegance of the koto, whilst composed music engages in a free-flowing dialogue with improvisation.

Given the brilliant careers of both artists, it is easy to see why the chemistry that emerges from their collaboration seems so natural.

For the duration of a concert, this duo transports us to a precious moment, full of finesse and generosity. A moment where musical languages intertwine to create a world brimming with lyricism and unique emotions.

Mieko Miyazaki is a virtuoso on the koto, a traditional Japanese instrument closely related to the zither. An internationally renowned concert performer, she trained under Japan’s greatest masters and has been honoured with numerous awards. The koto, once played at the imperial courts of yesteryear, is accompanied here by the strings of the Yako Quartet, an ensemble comprising four former students of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon. Refinement and virtuosity are the hallmarks of this new repertoire of Japanese music, which the incredible Japanese musician Mieko Miyazaki has composed for string ensemble.

Drawing on the ancestral resonance of the koto, a Japanese harp with crystalline and percussive tones, this project places tradition within a resolutely contemporary framework. It explores our relationship with life — the beauty of nature, its latent harshness, the vital force that flows through us — and uses the cycle of rebirth as a poetic metaphor for artistic renewal.
A leading figure on the international koto scene, Mieko Miyazaki develops here a personal musical language, straddling the boundary between composition and improvisation. Her work combines formal rigour, expressive freedom and timbral exploration, revealing the instrument in unexpected dimensions.
Alongside musicians from diverse backgrounds, she constructs a constantly evolving soundscape where contemporary jazz, modern music and the rhythms of J-Pop intersect. More than a simple fusion of genres, the piece offers an immersive musical architecture, conceived as a sensory experience.
On stage, the project exudes an organic energy and dramatic tension that immediately captivate the audience. Tradition and modernity are not in opposition here: they engage in dialogue, rub against one another and reinvent themselves, giving rise to a bold, contemporary and profoundly unique work.

The koto, a traditional zither, has existed in Japan since the 8th century. This instrument, whose woody textures, transparency and crystalline tones evoke trees, fountains, earth and sky… opens the doors to a musical world that is at once bewildering, vibrant and meditative. Steeped in Japanese tradition, Mieko Miyazaki also introduces us to her own interpretation of the Goldberg Variations on the koto!