music
Ritsu Katsumata is one of the rare people who has played her violin in both Carnegie Hall and CBGB’s in New York City. Her beginnings in classical music inform her postmodern compositions that often juxtapose unlikely partners such as Bach and Ozzie Osbourne. From her debut at age 11 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, her Jimi Hendrix-styled power trio in Portland, OR, to her studies with experimental composers David Borden and William Duckworth, Ritsu has challenged audiences by redefining the expectations of the violin. Elements from pop, metal, anime, Butoh, religious chants, and Classical music challenge and captivate audiences.
Gato Negro : cat prowling over ruined city streets
My first time performing in Chicago! Met some amazing performers and artists at this second annual AAPI Festival hosted by Oh Arts Foundation at Zhou B Building. This is an urban reinterpretation of a Japanese traditional song called “Moon Over Ruined Castle”.
Fractures of the Mind
I had the opportunity to collaborate with a young dancer who was choreographing for the first time. It was a privilege to tell his story as a musical score.
Titled “Fractures of the Mind, Julian described it as “the journey of life and the coming and going of people in your life… each individual can have an impact on you, both positively and negatively.”
with Julian Gan, choreographer
Jumpstart 2024, Grand Rapids Ballet
Grand Rapids Ballet 2024 "Jump Start" performance
Original choreography by Julian Gan
Original score composed and arranged by Ritsu Katsumata
Rock ‘n Roll Pipeline
When I first started playing electric, I wanted to learn how to play blues and rock and roll. It was a craft, just like playing classical music but the vocabulary was completely new. This is a mash up of Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll with the Ventures’ Pipeline. It was a technical circus, stretching my newfound language on my instrument.
Mama Q and the Mudsharks helped me recreate this tune at Site:Lab’s Transformation Station for ArtPrize 2022.
“Titus”
Butoh interpretation of Shakespearean tragedy
Rachel Finan is Lavinia, the raped and mutilated daughter of General Titus with her hands cut off, her tongue cut out, and ravished. We portray the story of betrayal, madness and violence.
“Of Thee I Sing”
a duet with Intersections by Anila Quayyum Agha
This piece was written as a soundscape in response to the widening political divide between the far right and far left post 2016 elections. Hateful dialogues on Twitterverse misappropriating the Founders of the United States in the name of “patriotism” reminded me of TS Eliot’s Hollow Men, who couldn’t recite the words to the Lord’s Prayer. The patriotic songs quoted are fragmented and confused, then blended with Prince’s Purple Rain - a gospel like hymn that blends the red and blue hues into one.
Nosferatu vs Ritsu
I was commissioned by Erin Wilson, then director of the Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids, to create and perform an original live score not as accompaniment but as equals on stage with the 1929 Silent Film classic by F. W. Murnau.
This one night only show, was performed and recorded at Wealthy Theatre, Grand Rapids, MI on Halloween 2009.
In the Beginning
In the Beginning is the Creation story told backwards. Humans have created an orderly world where rhythm and harmony are in sync, and has made earth so human-centric that it is beginning to devolve. Starting with Pachelbel’s Canon, the musical journey undoes the 7 days of creation ending in chaos and nothingness.
performed at Mexicains Sans Frontieres
