Popular Japanese Kuricorder Quartet is set to give three music concerts in Hanoi on 1 and 2 Nov in celebration of the Japan – Vietnam Friendship Year 2013, with free tickets available from now.

The concerts will be held for general audiences at Voice Of Vietnam Theatre (58 Quan Su, Hanoi) at 8pm on 1 Nov and at the courtyard of the Japan Foundation (27 Quang Trung, Hanoi) at 8pm on 2 Nov. Another concert , to take place at the courtyard of the Japan Foundation at 2pm on 2 Nov, is intended for families and is expected to also appeal to children and even infants.

Free tickets are available at the Japan Foundation from now.

Formed in 1994, Kuricorder Quartet is a polyphonic multi-instrumental Japanese ensemble comprising four virtuosos who are all composers/arrangers and seasoned musicians in various instruments.

As the band’s name implies, their main instruments are recorders (“Kuri” means “chestnut” in Japanese and “corder” comes from “recorder”). Their instruments come in a wide variety, ranging from the small soprano, to the giant great bass, via alto and tenor, and the ukulele. The band is also unique in their attempts to create innovative music from simple combinations of such musical instruments.

With four members Masaki Kurihara, Yoshiyuki Kawaguchi, Kenji Kondo and Takero Sekizawa, the band typically creates music which encompasses various genres such as jazz, folk, medieval, blues, classical and funk.

The Kuricorder Quartet has released six albums, which are all hits in Japan.

The band is also popular in Japan thanks to their musical contributions to visual hit works including the NHK’s TV program “Pythagora-Switch” and the animation film “La Maison en Petits Cubes” (The house in small blocks), which won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film in 2009).