"How Was It For You?"
Excerpts from the work-in-progress performances, Tokyo 18th-20th May 2022
Video and more info: www.francescalelohe.com/hwify.html

​​「How Was It For You?」2022年5月東京初演からの録音抜粋
詳細は：www.francescalelohe.com/hwify-jpn.html

Interludes ("How Was It For You?" excerpt)

Reading the diary ("How Was It For You?" excerpt)

"How Was It For You?" Excerpt

First draft of a choir piece written for DR VokalEnsemblet as part of TENSO Days Young Composers Workshop, May 16th-18th, Mechelen, Belgium. The texts are by Canadian, Jamaican and Indian soldiers and one by an Australian woman written during World War One. 

Forgotten Voices - for TENSO Young Composers workshop

'Closer' for kamanche, daegum and accordion.
Written for "An Orchestration of Personalties" cross-cultural composition workshop with Ensemble Zar, April 2023.
Facilitated by Bushra El-Turk, LOD Muziektheater & ENOA.

Inspiration for the piece came from kamanche player Faraz Eshghi's comment that the kamanche was 'for the detail which becomes clear when zooming in on a photograph'. This shaped my approach to the instruments when writing 'Closer'.

Kemancheh: Faraz Eshghi
Daegum: Hyelim Kim
Accordion: Milos Milivojevic

Photo: © Kurt Van der Elst

Closer (excerpt)

Extracts from Ito Noe: On an Endless Road (2023) for satsuma biwa & voice (1 performer)
Biwa & voice: Akiko Kubota
Music: Francesca Le Lohé
Text: Ito Noe
Premiere: Jiyugakuen, Ikebukuro, Tokyo, December 10th 2023
Photo: Hiraga Maasaki

Lyrics (English translation)
Destroy convention! Destroy convention!
There is no other way for us to be freed.
We cannot wait patiently and silently forever.
Act Now! Act Now!"

伊藤野枝：永く永く無限に続く道（抜粋）
薩摩琵琶のため
出演者：久保田晶子
音楽；レロイ・フランチェスカ
歌詞：伊藤野枝の文章より
初演：自由学園明日館、池袋、東京、2023年12月10日

3_Women's Resistance / 婦人の反抗

Extracts from Ito Noe: On an Endless Road (2023) for satsuma biwa & voice (1 performer)
Biwa & voice: Akiko Kubota
Music: Francesca Le Lohé
Text: Ito Noe
Premiere: Jiyugakuen, Ikebukuro, Tokyo, December 10th 2023
Photo: Hiraga Maasaki

Lyrics (English translation)
The pomelo didn’t have much flavour, 
but the smell was ridiculously strong.
To what extent do we crave 
meddling in other people’s business? 

伊藤野枝：永く永く無限に続く道（抜粋）
薩摩琵琶のため
出演者：久保田晶子
音楽；レロイ・フランチェスカ
歌詞：伊藤野枝の文章より
初演：自由学園明日館、池袋、東京、2023年12月10日

2_From My Diary / 日記より

Extracts from Ito Noe: On an Endless Road (2023) for satsuma biwa & voice (1 performer)
Biwa & voice: Akiko Kubota 
Music: Francesca Le Lohé 
Text: Ito Noe
Premiere: Jiyugakuen, Ikebukuro, Tokyo, December 10th 2023
Photo: Hiraga Maasaki

Lyrics (English translation): 
The New Woman will push ahead, 
moving beyond where most halted,
and become a leader of the new way
For the New Woman,
there is a New Woman's way.


伊藤野枝：永く永く無限に続く道（抜粋）
薩摩琵琶のため
出演者：久保田晶子
音楽；レロイ・フランチェスカ
歌詞：伊藤野枝の文章より
初演：自由学園明日館、池袋、東京、2023年12月10日

1_The Way of the New Woman / 新しい女の道

A recording of the choir from Who is Molly Leigh? in the final performance of the sell-out run, July 2025. The opera explores the legend of Molly Leigh, a Staffordshire woman accused of witchcraft, from the perspective of women and those excluded from society for being 'different'. Molly Leigh is performed by not one singer, but a choir of women and gender diverse people, finally giving Molly voice and showing her story represents the experiences of many. 
Special thanks to Mary Keith (choir leader), the community choir members from across Staffordshire, Rosie Middleton (mezzo-soprano), Gareth Mattey (lyrics) and co-producers B-arts.

Choir of Who is Molly Leigh?

A selection of music and soundscapes created for Whole Hog Theatre's adaptation of ''トリスタンとイゾルデ'(Tristan and Isolde), sponsored by Nelke Planning ( ネルケプランニング), Produced by Gorch Brothers (ゴーチ　ブラブラザーズ) and supported by The Daiwa Anglo Japanese Foundation Scholarship Programme.
Performed at the DDD Aoyama Theatre in Shibuya, Tokyo from Jan 12-15, 2017.
www.wholehogtheatre.com/tristan-isolde.html

0'00"-1'08" - Opening soundscape) Tristan's Birth
1'09"-1'29" - Chorus motif
1'30"-2'42" - Tristan and Isolde begin to fall in love (Original piano composed and performed by Mark Choi)
2'43"-3'52" - The Queen creates a love potion
3'53"-7'18" - Opening of Act 2
7'19" - 8'03" - tracking Tristan and Isolde
8'04" - 10'20" - Tristan, Isolde and the King Love Triangle 

'Tristan and Isolde' featured music by myself and composer Mark Choi, each of us creating distinct works for different sections of the play. A selection of Mark's music for 'Tristan and Isolde' can be heard here: soundcloud.com/choiby/sets/tristan-and-isolde-selected-tracks

Extracts from 'Tristan and Isolde'

Incidental music for 'The Girl With Red Hair' by Sharman MacDonald
Staged by Glasgow University STAG Drama society Feb 2012

The Girl With Red Hair 1

The Girl With Red Hair 2

The Girl With Red Hair 4

February; The Husband is overjoyed to receive the naked photos of his wife, but he’s not the only one to see them…

"THE鍵KEY" : an Anglo-Japanese, site-specific opera inspired by Junichiro Tanizaki's novel of the same name. Composed and directed by Francesca Le Lohé. Excerpts compiled of recordings made throughout the UK premiere performances at 10 Tollgate Drive, London, August 2019.

作曲家・演出家フランチェスカ・レロイによる谷崎潤一郎の傑作長編小説「鍵」を主題にした音楽ドラマ。英国初演に撮った録音の録音抜粋（​10 Tollgate Drive、ロンドン、英国　2019年8月）

出演者/Performers :

The夫Husband trio
The夫Husband: 尼子広志 (テノール) Hiroshi Amako (tenor)
尺八/shakuhachi: Clive Bell
コントラバス/double bass: Mark Lipski

The妻Wife trio
The妻Wife: 工藤あかね (ソプラノ) Akane Kudo (soprano)
笙/sho: 佐藤尚美 Naomi Sato
チェロ/cello: Idlir Shyti

The娘Daughter trio
The娘Daughter:  望月あかり(メゾソプラノ) Akari Mochizuki(mezzo-soprano)
締め太鼓/Japanese percussion: 藤本晃則 Akinori Fujimoto
ヴァイオリン/violin: Joana Ly

木村/Kimura：綾香詳三（ダンサー）Shouzo Ayaka (dancer)

@Kagi_TheKey
francescalelohe.weebly.com/

Excerpt from "February" _2019 UK Premiere

« After 9-5» has been created through an ongoing exchange between Francesca Le Lohé and Berlin-based writer, Charlotte Wührer. The exchange began when Francesca composed a new short work for solo sho in response to Charlotte’s fiction work “Nine-to-Five”. Charlotte then wrote new text in response to this music, which was then passed back to Francesca to respond to with more new music etc. This “back-and-forth” of inspiration culminated in the piece “After 9-5”. 
Their creative partnership lead Francesca and Charlotte to co-found the “Sound & Word Network”; an international collective of composers/sound artists and writers/word artists.

"After 9-5"

Francesca is a composer & community musician, active in the UK and Japan.  http://francescalelohe.com/
フランチェスカ・レロイ：日本・英国に活動しているの作曲家

Francesca Le Lohe

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