This new spring pops concert will close our regular season and feature the works of Joe Hisaishi. Hisaishi is recognized as one of the greatest composers of his time. With genius filmmakers such as Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahashi from Studio Ghibli, the Japanese composer has explored all music genres to demonstrate the magnificence of his orchestral sensitivity. This concert will be a wonderful exploration of this genius of Japanese music, allowing the audience to experience the great pieces from the Studio Ghibli films.
Friday, May 9, 2025 | 7:00 p.m. | Missouri Theatre
Ticket Prices & Fees:
All concerts at the Missouri Theatre have three tiers of reserved seating.
Tier 1 Seating: $59, Tier 2 Seating: $49, Tier 3 Seating: $39 | Students & Children: $10
Processing & Facility Fees: The fees associated with ticket sales are a fixed $4 per ticket facility fee due to the University of Missouri for use of the Missouri Theatre, a $1 per ticket fee to our ticket sales platform, and a variable 3.2% credit card processing fee.
THE MUSIC OF STUDIO GHIBLI PROGRAM
Wilbur Lin, conductor
Eric Lancaster, narrator
Symphonic Variation “Merry Go Round + Cave of Mind” - HISAISHI
from Howl’s Moving Castle
Orchestra Stories: My Neighbor Totoro - HISAISHI
Intermission
A Town with an Ocean View from Kiki’s Delivery Service - HISAISHI, arr. HAMANO
Spirited Away Suite - HISAISHI
The performance will last approximately 1 hour and 35 minutes, with a 20 minute intermission
Eric Lancaster
Assistant Teaching Professor of Japanese at the University of Missouri-Columbia
Eric Lancaster is a scholar and educator specializing in the varieties of Japanese religious identities, with an emphasis on varieties of Buddhism, cross-cultural philosophy, and attitudes towards death. His research explores these themes through a variety of lenses, including Edo-period theater, martial arts, and contemporary cinema.
Professor Lancaster currently works as a lecturer at the University of Missouri in the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. He has teaching experience in the U.S., Italy, Japan, and China and has taught a wide range of courses ranging from primary school level to universities, specializing in language instruction, particularly: Japanese, Italian, Spanish, and English. His linguistic training also includes Mandarin and Sanskrit. Beginning in 2005 he has collaborated and trained with Imada Ningyo, a 300-year-old theatre located in Nagano, Japan. Since that time, he has done workshops and performances on Bunraku Traditional Theatre across Japan and the U.S. His work is featured in the short film Kaiju Bunraku (2017), a Japanese language film that premiered at Sundance. He also regularly trains and helps instruct courses in martial arts as a 3rd degree blackbelt under Master Jade Hockman and Joshua Edwards in Columbia, MO.