What is “THE BUTTERFLY - Colored by Caori Covayashi” ?
This is a crossover concert.
The city is a crossover.
The music is a crossover.
The lyrics crossover.
The artist who collaborate and audience members crossover.
The music mainly is of a genre called Classical Crossover, which is a fusion of classical and pop music. The lyrics are a blend of Japanese tunes, English tunes and tunes with a mix of Japanese and English. The collaborating creators, singers and musicians are active in Japan, the US and Korea. So, the lyrics, scores, CDs, footages, pictures, and occasionally people travel across the sea to meet the person with whom they are collaborating with.
The creation that results from all these elements is like a single butterfly born with all kinds of beautiful colors. This single full color butterfly will set foot into the audiences who live in the center of crossover culture, called New York. This is the concert, “THE BUTTERFLY.” Lyricist and director, Caori Covayashi hopes to draw a beautiful butterfly.
When I listen carefully, I can hear the flapping of wings.
It seems there is a butterfly flying, in such darkness.
A ray of light shines in from a window high above.
The silhouette of a butterfly emerges.
As if it wears all the colors that exist in nature, its wings of primary colors shine vividly and dully.
So beautiful…
Butterflies are a fragment of a picture God began to draw.
The stained glass windows in churches are wings of butterflies that emerge with a ray of light.
In this place of prayers, music and poetry will bring into view an image of a butterfly.
In this space, beauty hovers around even in the darkness.
Like butterflies, people also have wings and colors.
Butterflies and so can people fly beautifully.
Despite our different backgrounds and ways of expressing ourselves, I believe that we all consider the same things as being important. I would like to express and re-acknowledge my feelings towards the people and things that are dear to me, with the help of music and words, under the candle light, in a place of prayers – the church.
This is a beautiful butterfly that can be born only in New York, a city where everything crosses over.
The Crossover Highlights
Crossover/ Caori Covayashi x 16 Artists
Caori Covayashi, a young lyricist and concert director who is gaining recognition in Japan, will portray a beautiful and dramatic world using music and lyrics along with sixteen artists. Young artists have gathered from across the sea to create this concert. In this concert, we will present you the result of detailed work of collaboration that began in the process of its creation.
Crossover/ Japan x Broadway
With her performance as Eponine in“Les Miserables,”and Kim in“Miss Sasigon,” Seiko Niizuma is one of Japan’s most renowned musical theater actresses. Yuka Takara has received critical acclaim in her performance of Mei Li in the national tour of “Flower Drum Song,” and she has also appeared in many Broadway shows including “A Chorus Line,” “Mamma Mia,” “Pacific Overtures,” and “Flower Drum Song.” These two actresses who speak Japanese and English fluently will costar and present their beautiful singing voices.
Crossover/ Pop Music x Classical Music
“Classical Crossover” is a genre known to be sung by Josh Groban, Celine Dion, Bryan Adams, Celtic Woman, IL DIVO, and Luciano Pavarotti. At the concert, various well-known tunes will be performed by a band of strings and piano.
Crossover/ Singers x Creators
Caori Covayashi writes the Japanese lyrics for singers, Seiko Niizuma and Yuka Takara. The music is by Japan’s most recognized young composer Hibiki Inamoto, recipient of the Jonathan Larson Perfoming Arts Foundation grant, Gihieh Lee, and Hijiri Kuwano, who has written songs for the famous album, “Moon Light Blue.”
Crossover/ Music x Church
The Church of the Good Shepherd is known to have excellent acoustics among the churches in New York. It is an ideal space for grand scale Classical Crossover music. We hope that this beautiful church will be a place where the audience members can pray through music and send their heart out to others.
