“A Massive Attack of The Quietness”

Toshiki Okada is a playwright, novelist, and the director of the theater company chelfitsch. In 2005, he received the 49th Kishida Kunio Drama Award for “Five Days in March.” In 2007, he participated in the Kunstenfestivaldesarts with his work “Five Days in March.” Since this debut of his work overseas, he has continued to present works not only domestically but also internationally, putting on performances in over 90 cities across Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. Since 2016, he has also consistently created and directed works in a repertory program at a renowned public theater in Germany. In 2020, his work “The Vacuum Cleaner” (Münchner Kammerspiele) and in 2022, “Doughnuts” (Thalia Theater, Hamburg) were selected as part of the Berliner Theatertreffen’s “10 Remarkable Productions.” As a novelist, he published “The End of the Moment We Had” (Shinchōsha) in 2007, “Broccoli Revolution” (Shinchōsha) in 2022. He was appointed as the Artistic Director of the Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite Tokyo in 2025 and the Artistic Director of Performing Arts at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre in 2026.

Conductor Kazuki Yamada is the Artistic Director of Music at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, having assumed the post for the 2026 fiscal year.
He first achieved international attention upon receiving first prize in the 51 st International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors in 2009, followed closely by his European debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. His illustrious international career includes serving as Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (2012–2018) and Artistic and Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo (2016–2026). In April 2023, he was appointed to Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, ascending to its Music Director in May 2024. Beginning with the 2026/27 season, he will also assume the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.
In Japan, alongside regular guest appearances with major orchestras, Yamada serves as Music Director of the Yokohama Sinfonietta and Music Director and Chairman of the Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo.

She has appeared in theatre productions by Chelfitsch, Nuthmique, Satoko Ichihara (Q) and LOLO, amongst others. She has also appeared in dance works, notably 《showroom dummies#4》 by Gisèle Vienne and Étienne Bideau-Ray. In addition to her work as an actress, she creates her own performances using the body, language and video. She has been a member of Nuthmique since 2026.

Born in Tokyo in 1997, Riki Ishikura is a performing artist working across acting, directing, costume, photography, and design. His recent practice is concerned with the power of seeing, with modes of being at once between, both, and neither of opposing binaries, and with the body as a complex site where such conditions emerge.
Recent performance credits include KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre’s Unfulfilled Ghost and Monster - THE CORAL / MARUYAMA-CHO and chelfitsch & Dai Fujikura’s Metamorphosis of a Living Room . He was a member of the theatre company mamagoto from 2018 to 2023 and graduated from the Performing Arts Department of Tokyo Metropolitan Senior High School of the Arts.

Sara Kobayashi made her debut in 2006 performing the role of Bastienne in Bastien und Bastienne. Since then she has appeared in numerous opera performances. She has participated in the premieres of many new operas. In 2012, she made her European debut as Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi at the Sofia National Opera. She performed as soprano soloist in a performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the Musikverein in Vienna. She also won 2nd Prize at the Oscar Straus Operetta Competition. In 2015, on a tour of Japan from May to October, she gave outstanding performances as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro produced by Hideki Noda and conducted by Michiyoshi Inoue, and served as soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 under the baton of Gustavo Gimeno in July. She performed Micaela of Carmen with Japan Opera Foundation in 2017, and appeared in Der Freischütz produced by Yutaka Sado in 2018 and a new production of Don Giovanni in 2019, all winning favorable reviews. In February 2019, she gave a recital at Wigmore Hall in London. She released her debut CD album in 2014 and second one in 2016, and third one in 2019 on Nippon Columbia.

Percussionist and composer. Born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, in 1988. Made his debut in 2010 after winning second place in the ‘Kyōgaku IX’ competition. In the field of solo percussion, he has collaborated extensively with contemporary composers, premiering over 300 new works, whilst developing his own creative practice centered on the encounter between ‘the loneliness of urban dwellers and the music rooted in that land’. 《The River》, which reflects on Indonesia and Japan, and 《Sutartines》, a work exploring the encounter between Lithuanian and Japanese folk songs, have garnered high international acclaim. Recent works include the secular song cycle 《Kitahara Hakushū’s Mother Goose》(published by Ongaku no Tomo-sha), which runs for over three and a half hours, and the mono-opera 《In Search of the Red Shoes》. His activities are boundless, extending to the field of education, where he serves as the lead instructor for the Kudan Planets program.

Megumi Tokuoka graduated and completed her graduate studies at Tokyo University of the Art. Further studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg in the organ class of Wolfgang Zerer followed. She won first prize and the audience prize at the International Schnitger Organ Competition in Alkmaar and a second prize at the NDR International Organ Competition. Currently Megumi Tokuoka is Organist in Residence at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and Toyota City Concert Hall. She is also a lecturer at Tokyo University of the Arts. She serves as an organist at Katakura Church of Christ and the International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo.
She has recorded several CDs, among them Schumann and Brahms Organ Works (Belgium), 10th Anniversary Toyota City Concert Hall Organ, Puer natus in Bethlehem (Hamburg) and Die Kunst von Buxtehude (Stade).

Focusing on sound expression utilizing electronics and computers, he pursues activities that span genres such as contemporary music and improvisation and has earned high acclaim for his performances of electronic music and his work as a sound engineer at numerous concerts. In 2012, he formed the contemporary music ensemble ‘Tokyo Gen’on Project’ with performers active on the contemporary music scene both in Japan and abroad, and the group has given over 20 concerts to date. In addition to receiving the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Newcomer Award (Arts Promotion Category) at the 63rd Arts Selection Awards, he has been awarded the Suntory Arts Foundation’s Keizo Saji Prize on multiple occasions. He frequently participates in sessions with experimental musicians and improvisers both in Japan and abroad, as well as collaborating with visual artists. He is currently an Associate Professor at Tokyo College of Music.