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- Lauded Japanese folk artist Ichiko Aoba to make her Vancouver debut at the Chan Centre
Lauded Japanese folk artist Ichiko Aoba to make her Vancouver debut at the Chan Centre
Ichiko Aoba, the celebrated Japanese singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist is set to make her highly anticipated solo debut in Vancouver at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on Saturday, April 19 2025 at 8PM as part of the Chan Centre EXP series. Aoba will embark on a world tour in support of her new album, Luminescent Creatures, which will be released Friday, February 28 2025. The Chan Centre is her only Canadian tour stop. Tickets for the general public go on sale Friday, November 15 at 10AM.
“Ichiko Aoba’s music is sublime, surreal, and utterly spellbinding. We are beyond thrilled to present her debut performance in Vancouver, which will be an ethereal evening of mythic and magical sound.”
Jarrett Martineau, Curator-in-Residence of the Chan Centre
Aoba has the power to bend space around her, pulling listeners from reality and surrounding them in the comforting fabric of her imagination. In recent years, she has tapped into the full breadth of her ability, marrying the classical guitar of her earlier work with lofty orchestral sweeps. Her previous album, 2020’s Windswept Adan, was the soundtrack to an imaginary film about a girl who journeys from her home to the fantastical Adan Island. Praised by the likes of Pitchfork, The Needle Drop and beyond, the album garnered international recognition, going on to become the #1 user-rated album of 2020 on Album Of The Year, as well as The Guardian’s #5 best contemporary album of 2021.
For Luminescent Creatures, Aoba opens an even wider portal into her mind, exploring the origin of life in her fictitious universe. She explains, “Luminescent Creatures was born from Windswept Adan. It began when I started wondering what happened after the protagonist of Windswept Adan disappeared along with the music of the island’s inhabitants. What would be left?”
Aoba invites listeners into her intricate world, blending her delicate voice and gentle guitar playing with lush orchestral arrangements. Known for her ability to create “pockets of intimacy,” (Pitchfork) her performances feel like private, otherworldly experiences—each note infused with personal reflection and universal emotion.
Singing in Japanese, the raw emotion in Aoba’s voice and her ability to create intricate soundscapes bridges cultural and linguistic divides. She has collaborated with and played alongside global stars like Japanese Breakfast, Mac DeMarco, Pomme, and the late Ryuichi Sakamoto. As her own star continues to rise, Aoba’s compositions have become grander and her songwriting more refined, yet her ability to make listeners feel like they inhabit a private cosmos alongside her remains as strong as ever.
