Orchestral music reawakens movie magic

It will feature tunes from films by Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation studio behind works such as Laputa: Castle In The Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Princess Mononoke (1997).

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FROM C1 It will feature tunes from films by Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation studio behind works such as Laputa: Castle In The Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Princess Mononoke (1997).

More significantly, this concert will feature original cast members Yoshikazu Mera, Sumi Shimamoto, Azumi Inoue and Yuyu, whose voices were featured in the soundtracks, backed by the 17-member Tokyo Asia Orchestra.

Japanese singer Inoue will perform two tracks from My Neighbor Totoro – its cheerful opening theme, Stroll, and its hopeful titular ending theme.

The 60-year-old told The Straits Times in an e-mail: "When the film was first released, neither it nor its songs were very popular. But after a long time, word of mouth spread about how wonderful this movie was, and its songs also gradually became very popular.

"Today, people around the world love them, and this has allowed me to travel and share these songs with audiences everywhere. It is such a special work. I could even describe it as being my entire life."

Inoue, who suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2023, added: "As I currently still have trouble walking, I also sing the song Stroll to encourage and motivate myself. I am proud to be an original singer of Studio Ghibli's productions, and hope to continue singing these songs with great care and affection."