Research carried out by an OU Music academic will be featured in the upcoming BBC Philharmonic: Rediscovered Composers concert.

A project carried out by Dr Maiko Kawabata, Staff Tutor in Music, will see a programme of music by Japanese composer Kikuko Kanai broadcast as part of the BBC Radio 3 production on Friday 4 November.

The concert is part of a collaboration between BBC Radio 3 and UK Research and Innovation’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) which aims to celebrate and give recognition to classical composers from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Native folk melodies combine with Western musical techniques

Mai Kawabata says: “I am one of seven researchers to receive an AHRC Award from their scheme ‘Celebrating Classical Music Composers from Diverse Backgrounds’, which aims to give exposure to composers from under-represented groups by supporting our work in uncovering unfamiliar musical repertoire.  

“My project focuses on the 20^th century Japanese composer Kikuko Kanai, who was the first Japanese woman to compose a symphony and who produced approximately 150 works. She developed her unique style by combining folk-melodies of her native Okinawa with Western musical techniques.

“At the concert, Kanai's symphonic poem for full orchestra, Ryūkyū where the Deigo flowers blossom, will be performed for the first time outside of Japan by the BBC Philharmonic.”

Launched in 2020, the Celebrating Classical Music Composers from Diverse Backgrounds scheme aims to expand the breadth and diversity of what is accepted as belonging to the classical music canon and uncover more about the lives and work of composers who have not had the public recognition that their work deserves.

Mai, alongside the six other successful researchers, was selected with the support of an expert advisory panel of academics and musicians. 

Her research has also featured on two BBC podcasts, as well as a live concert broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in February 2022 featuring Kanai’s piano music.

Read more about Mai’s research and the music of Music of Kikuko Kanai. The concert took place at the BBC Philharmonic Studio in Salford on Friday 4 November. Listen to it now on BBC Sounds.