Encounter between Contemporary Music and Calligraphy

Toshio Hosokawa
World-famous Japanese composer and connoisseur of calligraphy
In 2023, he was invited as “Creative Chair” by the Tonhalle Zurich.

Suishū T. Klopfenstein-Arii
Callygraphy Master active in Europe based in Switzerland
80 years dedicated to the path of calligraphy
with “Writing is the image of the heart” in mind

Program
In the concert, works by Toshio Hosokawa are played
In the concert hall, works by Suishū T. Klopfenstein are exhibited

1:30 pm Opening
2:00 – 2:10 pm Welcome Address
2:10 – 3:10 pm Concert
3:10 – 3:40 pm Reception (in Foyer)
3:40 – 4:10 pm Dialogue between Toshio Hosokawa and Suishū T. Klopfenstein-Arii in German
Moderation by Prof Dr. Eduard Klopfenstein
4:10 – 5:00 pm TIme for viewing the calligraphy works as well as for questions and answers
Mr. Hosokawa and Ms. Klopfenstein will be present throughout the event.

Ticket presale starts on Wednesday, 1. July 2026.
Online: www.ticketcorner.ch Tel: 0900 800 800 (CHF 1.19/min.)
(Info: Tel +41 79 296 9904 Mail: [email protected])

Special Thanks for the Support
Museum Rietberg, University of Zurich AOI – Japanese Studies, Kunsthaus Zurich, Swiss-Japanese Chamber of Commerce SJCC, Swiss-Japanese Society SJG, Japan Club Zurich JCZ, “Grüezi” Swiss-Japanese Journal, Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK, GM Konzerte

Toshio Hosokawa
Born in Hiroshima in 1955. Since 1976 he has studied music for ten years with Isang Yun at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin and with Klaus Huber at the Staatliche Hochschule für Müsik in Freiburg i. Br. In 1980, he participated for the first time in the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music. Since then, he has passionately developed his composition activities by researching deeply his own roots. Based on traditional Japanese aesthetics, his extensive works are uniquely bridging with modern Western avant-garde music. He has received numerous international prizes and invitations from major orchestras, music festivals, and opera houses. In the field of opera, he has been gaining a high reputation with pieces such as “Hanjo” (2004), “Matsukaze” (2011), “Futari Shizuka” (2017), “Earthquakes Dreams” (2018) and “Natasha” (2025).

Suishū T. Klopfenstein-Arii
Born in Wakayama, Japan, as the second child of a doctor, haiku poet (Sensui) and a tea ceremony master (Shōtoku). From the age of seven she studied calligraphy under the masters Taniguchi Soseki, Fujita Reisen, Toyoda Fumi, and Takazawa Nansō, and obtained a master’s diploma in the art of Chinese-Japanese writing from the All Japan Calligraphy Culture Association. Graduating from Dōshisha University in Kyoto, she has been residing in Switzerland since 1967. Married to the Swiss Japanologist Prof Dr. Eduard Klopfenstein, and having one daughter, Erika. Alongside traditional calligraphy she has been exploring the modern art of brush drawing. From 1976 to 2006, she was a lecturer of callygraphy and kanji studies at the University of Zurich. Numerous exhibitions, lectures and on-the-spot demonstrations of brushwork both at home and abroad, receiving many awards, including the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Award.

To the Event “The Encounter between Contemporary Music and Calligraphy”
Music is like callygraphy, using sound to draw in the space of silence. Inspired by this idea, I have composed many musical musical pieces. At first, I had the image of a Zen monk painting characters with a thick brush, because I perceived the vocal lines of traditional Japanese music as brushstrokes on white paper. Then, I realised that the emptiness (the silence) behind the strokes was just as important as the lines themselves. With these thoughts in mind, I came accross some amazing calligraphy works by Suishū T. Klopfenstein in Zurich. The lines were so diverse, delicate, rich, serenely strict, and highly poetic that I was truly deeply impressed. It is my great pleasure that an event is being organised at which Ms Suishū‘s works and my compositions are honoured together. I hope everyone at the event will enjoy a world of dreamy poesy beyond our reality, where the worlds of seeing and hearing intersect and resonate with each other.
Toshio Hosokawa

Concert Program
Works by Toshio Hosokawa

Haiku “Etude III”: Piano Solo, Michiko Tsuda
Small Song “Chant”: Cello Solo, Christof Mohr
Calligraphy: String Quartet, Violin, Anastasia Dziadevych
Violin, Sofia Goetz
Viola, Remea Friedrich
Cello, Milo Ferrazzini
Point and Line “Etude II”: Piano Solo, Michiko Tsuda
Oreksis: String Quartet, as mentioned above
and Piano, Ariel Rodriguez Lima