Crystal Vision

Japanese music for piano has long intrigued me - a country with such rich influences and contradictions has music of great stylisation, sophistication, beauty and uncompromising power. These qualities have had a profound influence on art music of the West, to say nothing of other cultural areas. To find a Japanese composer whose ideas are readily accessible to our ears is very rare however - I think Kanako Okamoto is one such musician.

I first became aware of her work through the 2001 Federation Music Week in Melbourne, where I was performing many new piano works from Asia, among them Okamoto's Crystal Vision. What immediately impressed me apart from the intricate writing and intelligent formal construction was the cumulative power of the work, delivered in a very straightforward and honest manner. Since this time I have encouraged Ms Okamoto to explore as many musical terrains as possible, and this solo piano CD is the result. One hopes this taster will result in the listener further exploring Okamoto's other musical output, which is similarly lyrical and powerful, but equally difficult to define in mere words.

The symbol of the frog became central to the collaboration - more than once people have commented on my face resembling a frog, or, memorably, a toad - but I figured what the hell, as long as it inspires the creative process. Of course, frogs act as miner's canaries in the increasingly impoverished natural world, a sobering thought. I need hardly draw comparisons with classical pianists.

- Michael Kieran Harvey