​ AYANE KONDO
　　　  &
​Hanane Kondo

 Percussion & Hammered Dulcimer player, music composition, arrangement and Painter/Psychological counselor
Multiple Percussionist, Hammered dulcimer player, music teacher, composer, music arranger, and painter

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 Currently, she works as a freelance Multiple Percussionist, Hammered Dulcimer player, music teacher, composer, music arranger, and painter. Since August 2021, she has been residing in Berlin. She recently secured a contract with "The Feuerle Collection," a private museum, for 5 performances finished in 2023. Alongside, she teaches at various locations and leads the Maria-Scharwies Choir at the Rathaus Schöneberg in Berlin. Her ongoing project, the hotel concerts, are held every two to three months at the "FLOTTWELL Berlin Hotel." In addition to her solo endeavors, she collaborates regularly with another artist.

From June to July 2023, she participated as a timpanist in an orchestral tour across the Czech Republic, formed by young musicians. In September, she performed as a percussionist alongside young Czech musicians at the prestigious Dvořák Festival 23 held at the Dvořák Hall in Prague. In August 2024, she performed as a guest artist at the Beyond Borders International Festival 2024, held at Traquair House in Scotland. The following year, in 2024, she served as a percussion instructor for children at the International Association for Music Education in Prague, continuing her active involvement in the music scene both in Germany and internationally. Together, she brings her unique blend of talents to various performances, enriching their artistic expressions and captivating audiences with dynamic performances.

Her musical journey began under the influence of her father, Hisaatsu Kondo, a conductor, starting at the tender age of two. After graduating from Tokyo College of Music High School with a focus on percussion in 2010, she embarked on a series of achievements, including winning the first prize at the International Music Competition of the Chinese Music Council in 2013. Since then, she has been actively engaged as a musician and music teacher in Japan, even studying under renowned timpanist Michael Kroutil in the Czech Republic in 2014.

Her diverse experiences led her to live in Dresden, Germany, in 2015, where she pursued studies in percussion and timpani. Subsequently, in 2016, she delved into playing the hammered dulcimer in Japan and established the LuneSonne Duo. Her talents were recognized in 2017 when she joined the "Global Artist Project Japan" by The And Vision company. In 2018, she signed contracts with "STAND UP ORCHESTRA" of Sony Music Japan as a percussionist and with the "Japan Association of String Instrument Performer" as a music producer. Her artistic endeavors extended beyond music, as she participated in the "Sacred Art Festival" in Senlis, France, as a painter in April 2019.

Her achievements culminated in 2020 with a notable 4th prize (Honorable Mention) at the "World BACH Competition 2020 presented by Boulder Bach Festival" in the Hammered Dulcimer solo category. Additionally, she showcased her paintings at the "Japan Festival Berlin" in January and held a solo exhibition in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in September 2020.

*About the Hammered Dulcimer: A part of an ancient percussion instrument originating from Iran, which evolved into the piano in the Western musical tradition.

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Activities as a painter - Artist Name [Hanane Kondo]

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In 1994 :Started to draw the picture from 2 years old.

In 2016 : I threw solo art exhibition and music concert in Shinjuku Japan. (Japan)

In April 2019 : I was joined “Sacred Art Festival” in Senlis. (France)

In January 2020 : I was joined "Japan Festival Berlin”. (Germany.)

In September 2020 : I had a solo exhibition for a week in Shinjuku Japan. (Japan)

In September 2021 : I will join “modernart energy” in Paris. (France)

My parents thought their child(me) need to do some activity. Because when I was child,I didn’t cry and laugh when visiting to anyplace and meeting anybody.

That activities was the tennis and drawing the art. Maybe It was beginning of my life. Fortunately,I could feel a lot of the arts in my life everyday.

My father is music conductor and my mother was saxophonist. And Their hobbies are an appreciation for art. Then until now,I continue drawing the art.

Now,My currently activities are as music freelancer, music instructor and also as a painter. And producing many events of the concert and live.

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Musical Biography of Ayane Kondo

 

Till becoming a percussionist: “caught by the sounds of percussions”

 

Music has always been around me since I was in my mother’s belly. When my mother had me, listening to music as prenatal care was in trend. Regardless of its fashion, my mother was a devotee of all genres of music, such as classic, jazz, Japanese Enka, rock, etc. On the other hand, my father was a talented musician since early childhood. He used to be a sojourner in Berlin for his musical study at the Hochschule der Künste (HdK) in the 1970s as a privileged student receiving a Japanese government scholarship. He continued his career as a horn player in Orchester-Akademie der Berliner Philharmoniker and has worked as a conductor and a docent after returning to Japan. This musical life biography of my father was the main topic I had been told since childhood―thus, Berlin has seized me as a space where I might make my future home just like my father did.

 

Just like mundane families that are enthusiastic about music or art, I have been through many musical instruments since I was a child. None of them felt right for me. One day I was in a concert hall with my father where he had to perform. At his office, he asked me, “which instrument is the best fit for you?” while the orchestra was playing for the rehearsal, I sat down in the empty audience and started to observe the instruments being played. The sounds playing out from a section of the orchestra caught my ears; the percussion added an essence of brilliance and dynamic to the orchestra. At first, I fell in love with the sound of percussion instruments. Since then, my interest in percussion instruments has never gone away.

 

Discovering Hammered Dulcimer/

In the sizzling summer of 2016, I was invited to a tiny concert in a small instrument shop in Asagaya. Without anticipating any forthcoming life-changing event, I picked up the program's brochure. On the stage, a Japanese musician was playing Native American music and classic music with an exotic Instrument, which I had not ever seen. The tone was deep, bright as if listening to a pipe organ, and shiny as if seeing the light reflecting through the window of a grand cathedral. Though I was a percussion and  marimba player, I intuitionally figured out it was the tone I had long dreamed of.

 

Philosophy of my Art: “connecting body with the mind, by playing”

 

Music, more precisely playing instruments, is a sensual bodily experience investigating my emotions―that is, playing is an attempt to connect my physical body to the mind. To be inspired, I capture lively substance, but not human-related things, which would rather be a part of nature on earth. When my mind pays attention to all the human-related issues, my body suffers from the complexity of the problems and lack of ability to unravel the riddles. To be grounded in myself, I, again, pay attention to playing a piece of rhythm and melody which transform from my movements of fingers to sound. What I can suggest to my fellow citizens is a short moment at which we, indeed, can be at peace with music composed of a piece of rhythm and melody. And, hopefully, as an artist, this lifelong-lasting habit of playing can contribute to changing moments of their life.        24.12.2022      

         　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Written by Junsang Lee