My Current Jam

25 years with the Animation of Hayao Miyazaki

Composer Joe Hisaishi

Joe Hisaishi in Budokan (久石譲in武道館) was a concert given in August 2008 at Tokyo’s Nippon Budoukan venue commemorating both the Japanese theatrical premiere of Ponyo and the 25 years of musical collaboration between composer Joe Hisaishi and film maker Hayao Miyazaki.

This massive concert featured performances of these signature Miyazaki film scores composed by Hisaishi, conducting from the piano, and the 200-member New Japan Philharmonic World Dream Orchestra, along with six featured vocalists, the 800 combined voices of the Ippan Koubo, Ritsuyuukai and Little Singers of Tokyo choirs, plus a 160-piece marching band.

Altogether there were some 1160 musicians and singers on stage, backed by images from Miyazaki’s films projected on a giant screen.

Concert program

01. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
02. Mononoke Hime
03. Kiki’s Delivery Service
04. Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
05. Laputa: Castle in the Sky.
06. Porco Rosso
07. Howl’s Moving Castle
08. Spirited Away
09. Tonari no Totoro
10. Encore – Princess Mononoke