Spirited Away- Audiovisual Symphony Concert for Animation Works

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-09-08 16:43

The promoter choose segment from the 8 classic movies and make them into 8 suitd. Each featured segment is complemented by projected video footage.

About Joe Hisaishi

Joe Hisaishi (born December 6, 1950) is a composer and director responsible for over 100 soundtracks and conventional albums dating back to 1981. He is best-known for his work with animator Hayao Miyazaki, including the soundtracks to Spirited Away (2001), Howl's Moving Castle (2004), Princess Mononoke (1997), My Neighbour Totoro (1988), and Nausica of the Valley of the Wind (1983). He is also known for his work with filmmaker Takeshi Kitano, including soundtracks for Dolls (2002), Kikujiro (1999), Hana-Bi (1997), Kids Return (1996), and Sonatine (1993). Lesser known are the other musical roles he plays - he is also a typesetter, author, arranger, and head of orchestra.

About Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki (Miyazaki Hayao, born January 5, 1941 in Tokyo, Japan) is the prominent director of many popular animated feature films. He is also the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, an animation studio and production company.

He remained largely unknown to the West, outside of animation communities, until Miramax released his 1997 Princess Mononoke. By that time, his films had already enjoyed both commercial and critical success in Japan and Central Asia. For instance, Princess Mononoke was the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan. Currently his later film, Spirited Away, has that distinction as well as being the first anime film to win an Academy Award. Howl's Moving Castle was also nominated on one occasion but did not recieve the award. Miyazaki's films often incorporate common themes, such as humanity's relationship to nature and technology, and the difficulty of maintaining a pacifist ethic.

The protagonists of his films are often strong, independent girls or young women; the villains, when present, are often morally ambiguous characters with redeeming qualities. Anime directed by Miyazaki that have won the Animage Anime Grand Prix award have been Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in 1984, Castle in the Sky in 1986, My Neighbor Totoro in 1988, and Kiki's Delivery Service in 1989.