Theatrum Affectuum
Ayako Matsunaga – baroque violin
Andreas Böhlen – recorder
Takashi Kaketa – baroque cello
Takashi Watanabe – harpsichord
Information on Theatrum Affectuum (pdf file)
Theatrum Affectuum photo
Ayako Matsunaga was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1976. She started the violin at a very young age. In 1995, she began her studies at the Toho college of Music, where she graduated in modern violin. During her time there she also started studying baroque violin as a minor subject, and quickly gained a strong affinity with early repertoire. After graduating she began performing regularly in Japan and Europe, and she has worked with such ensembles as Accademia Bizantina (Ottavio Dantone), Academia Montis Regalis (Alessandro de Marchi), Orchestra Handel Festival Japan, Ensemble Zefiro (Alfredo Bernardini), Le cercle de l’Harmonie, De Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Musica ad Rhenum, Ensemble Schönbrunn, Bach Collegium Japan and Orchestra Symposion Japan. Ayako was awarded the early music prize in Japan in 2002, and the second prize and audience prize at the Premio Bonporti in Rovereto, Italy, in 2007. After studying in Amsterdam with Lucy van Dael and Marie Leonhardt, Ayako moved to Italy to study with Stefano Montanari in Milan, where she currently based.
After having completed a Bachelor of Arts at the Sophia University in the Faculty of Letters, Takashi Kaketa studied violoncello at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. At the same university he also completed a music research Masters degree in early music. Takashi studied ‘cello with Ryoichi Fujimori and Hideki Kitamoto, and baroque cello under Hidemi Suzuki, Roel Dieltiens and Emmanuel Balssa. While studying he began performing both in Japan and Europe with such ensembles as Bach Collegium Japan and Orchestra Libera Classica, and he has appeared in such festivals as Les Boreades (Hokutopia International Music Festival), Handel Festival Japan, Sapporo Early Music Festival, and Fukuoka Early Music Festival. In 2006 he commenced studies in baroque cello in Milan with Gaetano Nasillo, with the assistance of a grant from the Japanese government.
Takashi Watanabe was born in Nagano, Japan. He graduated from the Tokyo College of Music, majoring in piano. He began studying harpsichord at the age of 20, and completed his post-graduate degree at the Toho College of Music. At the age of 22 he won first prizes at the Early Music competition in Japan, and since then has won several other prizes in competitions such as Bruges, Belgium. He is an active musician not only as solo player but also as a continuo player of many ensembles such as Orchestra Symposion Japan (which gave the Japanese premiere on historical instruments of Mozart’s Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots). In 2002 he moved to Amsterdam to complete his Masters degree with Bob van Asperen at the Amsterdam Conservatory. He has participated in several summer courses, including Antwerpen with Jos van Immerseel, and Sant Feliu de Guíxols with Pierre Hantaï. Takashi Watanabe is also active as a conductor and musical director of the Handel Festival Japan in Tokyo, where he has had great success conducting Acis and Galatea, La Resurrezione, The choice of Hercules and Hercules.
Since 2005 he has been living in Pavia, Italy.
See also http://darcadia.blogspot.com
