Wayfinder — Viola Concerto by Dai Fujikura

Wayfinder is Dai Fujikura’s new viola concerto inspired by Polynesian wayfinding / star navigation. The concerto was commissioned with the generous support of Elizabeth & Justus Schlichting.

ヴィオラ協奏曲 「Wayfinder」は、藤倉大が作曲した、新しいヴィオラ協奏曲です

ヴィオラ協奏曲 「Wayfinder」は、藤倉大が作曲した、新しいヴィオラ協奏曲です。ヴィオリスト、Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti のために書かれました。

この協奏曲はポリネシアのウェイファインディング/スターナビゲーション(天体観測、海流や波浪の観測、生物相の観察、風向の観測などから自らの現在位置と方向を推測する航法技術) のアイデアに触発され、作曲されました。 

なお、この作品は、ジャストゥス・シュリヒティング氏と妻のエリザベスのスポンサーにより、委嘱されました。

Who is Dai Fujikura?

Dai Fujikura is a composer based in London, UK. Born in Osaka, Japan, Dai moved to the UK when he was fifteen. He has been commissioned by major musical orchestras such as Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Proms. His work was greatly supported by the late Pierre Boulez, who commissioned Dai to write a work for the Lucerne Festival Academy and continued to program his work and encourage future commissions by the Ensemble Intercontemporain and Lucerne Festival.

It was through the Lucerne Festival Academy that Dai and I met—I volunteered to learn his viola and electronics work prism spectra for the Lucerne Festival Academy workshop with IRCAM in 2009, and contacted Dai about the piece. Two years later, he invited me to work on it with the engineer who had originally developed the electronics, Manuel Poletti, at IRCAM and then perform the work at Village Underground in London.

Dai runs his own record label Minabel where he releases recordings of his compositions in collaboration with SONY Music. He is published by Ricordi Berlin. For a complete bio, please visit his official website.

What is Wayfinding?

Wayfinding is the name for Polynesian star navigation and other indigenous navigational concepts for orienting oneself using sea swells, wind, the sun, cloud color and shape, and bird migration. From Nainoa Thompson’s essay On Wayfinding:

The star compass is the basic mental construct for navigation. We have Hawaiian names for the houses of the stars—the place where they come out of the ocean and go back into the ocean. If you can identify the stars as they rise and set, and if you have memorized where they rise and set, you can find your direction. The star compass also reads the flight path of birds and the direction of waves. It does everything. It is a mental construct to help you memorize what you need to know to navigate. You cannot look up at the stars and tell where you are. You only know where you are in this kind of navigation by memorizing where you sailed from. That means constant observation. You have to constantly remember your speed, your direction and time. You don't have a speedometer. You don't have a compass. You don't have a watch. It all has to be done in your head.

In an article by my great-grandfather Samuel Wilder King written almost a hundred years ago in the 34th Annual Report of the Hawaiian Historical Society (1925, 11-14), he describes how “the ancient Hawaiians had a splendid foundation in seamanship and navigation.” King served in the US Navy from 1910–24, then re-entered the Navy Reserve during World War II and was stationed in the Pacific, finally retiring permanently with the rank of captain in 1946. He went on to become the first Native Hawaiian Governor of the Territory of Hawaiʻi. Before science confirmed what we know now about wayfinders, Hawaiians like him knew of these traditions through the language of their ancestors.

Past Performances

Friday, March 15, 2024 — Leilehua Lanzilotti (viola), Alexander Liebreich (conductor), Nagoya Philharmonic at Forest Hall, Nagoya, Japan. Orchestral version: Viola solo + (2222, 2200, 1perc, strings) world premiere.

Saturday, March 16, 2024 — Leilehua Lanzilotti (viola), Alexander Liebreich (conductor), Nagoya Philharmonic at Forest Hall, Nagoya, Japan. Orchestral version: Viola solo + (2222, 2200, 1perc, strings) world premiere.

Saturday, July 16, 2022 — Leilehua Lanzilotti and Ensemble NOMAD (Japan Premiere), Born Creative Festival, Tokyo, Japan. Ensemble version: Viola solo + (1111/1100/1perc/2011) world premiere. This engagement is supported by Mid Atlantic Arts through USArtists International in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. ボンクリ・フェス｜東京

Friday, July 15, 2022 — Leilehua Lanzilotti, Japan Premiere of Star Compass, “The Wayfinder Room,” Born Creative Festival, Tokyo, Japan. This engagement is supported by Mid Atlantic Arts through USArtists International in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. ボンクリ・フェス｜東京

Saturday, September 26, 2020 — Leilehua Lanzilotti, Alone at Noguchi, The Noguchi Museum, Long Island City, NY. Virtual World Premiere of Star Compass, the concerto for Wayfinder (and a standalone solo viola work).