Ocarina Legends from the World

The event

The iconic international concert of the Festival: a celebration of cultures and sounds from across the globe.

The Consortium Theater in Budrio hosts a truly exceptional event. Six ocarina ensembles from three continents will perform, honoring the magic of this incredible instrument.

An experience that blends tradition with modernity, creating a unique fusion of sounds, melodies, stories, and cultures. Through this instrument, the different voices of the world unite, embodying an evening dedicated to the beauty of cultural diversity and the universality of music.

A shining example of how a small town can become a global cultural hub. This event is a tribute to Budrio and its rich history.

FLOWERS OF HIROSHIMA

After their success in the 2024 edition, the duo returns to our International Ocarina Festival.
The Hiroshima-born duo of Shirai Asaka (zither) and Nakahara Chisato (ocarina) has been performing both in Japan and internationally for years, sharing messages of peace through their music.

They’ve had the honor of performing in Germany on several occasions, including in Hannover to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the city’s friendship with Hiroshima, as well as in Frankfurt.

Program

1. Hiroshima – Peace Clock Tower, a traditional song played every morning at 8:15 a.m., 364 days a year from the clock tower in Hiroshima Peace Park.
2. Island of Prayer by Asaka Shirai, a piece composed in honour of Miyajima, the abode of the gods and a World Heritage Site in Hiroshima.
3. Senbon Sakura, the song that captures the beauty, the transience and the fleeting joy of the cherry blossoms.

NANAKO E RUNEKA

A Japanese duo of an ocarina player and an ocarina teacher.

Program

1. 「Sakura」– variations, arr. Nanako Yamashiro, published in ‘Koto Music Collection’ (1888) and taught in Japanese schools.

GOOSAPHONE

Goosaphone, also known as Goose or simply Kaitlyn, is a cosplayer and musician from Wisconsin, USA. She is a member of Ocabanda, the American ocarina septet founded by David Erick Ramos, and plays the ocarina in low C. She mainly performs at music events related to video games and incorporates cosplay into her performances.

Program

1. Music for video games from the Pokémon, Fire Emblem and Legend of Zelda
2. Lugia’s Song and other iconic ocarina songs

AURORA-N OCARINA TRIO

A group of three women, each of whom has won prizes in traditional Japanese music competitions. The trio performs with the intention of expressing the purity and beauty of the figure of Aurora and the hope that the melodies of the ocarinas will spread light and joy, like a ray of life embracing the earth. The group’s name reflects this spirit: ‘Aurora’, the goddess of the dawn in Greek mythology, and ‘N’ for Nagoya, their origin city.

Program

1. Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Mozart
2. Take Five arr.Maico/Kojyo
3. The Typewriter by Leroy Anderson

CYRILLE MERCADIER & ENSEMBLE DENNER

Cyrille Mercadier joins the Ensemble Denner for this special performance.
Cyrille Mercadier began playing the ocarina at the age of eight, when a friend of his father’s gave him an instrument made by Mignani in Budrio. Thirty years later, an invitation to perform as a soloist led him to explore the world of Vivaldi with a special model of ocarina in C-small made for him by Olivier Gosselink. Since then, Cyrille has toured extensively in addition to his career as a freelance clarinetist and clarinet repairer in Paris.
The Ensemble Denner’ clarinetists graduated from French conservatories and are members or former members of prestigious Parisian orchestras such as the Garde Républicaine and the Musique des Gardiens de la Paix. With over 30 years of experience as chamber music ensembles, they regularly perform with symphony orchestras and continue to cultivate an intense musical collaboration.

Program

1. A. Vivaldi : Il Cardellino arr. C. Mercadier 10’
2. V. Bellini : Casta diva arr. C. Mercadier 6’
3. E. Mäkelä : Ocarina concerto (3 rd movement), first audition in Italy 7’
4. Trad. : Calusul arr. Lionel Milin 3’

SHIINAZAKA

Founded in May 2022 by Shiina Haruna and her students, these group members live in Japan, mainly in Sapporo and Hokkaido, and have an average age of 40. The group won first prize in the ensemble category at the Japan Ocarina Competition, for two consecutive years (10th edition in 2023 and 11th edition in 2024). They also won first prize in the ensemble category at the 5th (2024) International Ocarina Rave Online Competition.

Program

1. Guillame Tell – Overture, composed by G. Rossini, arr. E. Bernagozzi
2. Jig & Air – pensieri sull’Irlanda (Gli occhi di Shamrock) – composed by Atsushi Tajima