HOUSTON, TX – ROCO joins the global celebration of the 2025 World EXPO in Japan with Beyond the Rising Sun – A Musical Voyage, a vibrant Connections Series performance on Saturday, March 28, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at the Asia Society Texas Center. Honoring innovation, tradition, and international exchange, this cross-cultural event features two world premieres and music by composers from around the world.
The program’s central theme revolves around humanity’s shared fascination with the cosmos and space exploration. Leading the musical space voyage are ROCO musicians Kana Kimura (violin), Maiko Sasaki (clarinet), and Shino Hayashi (cello), and guest artist Kana Mimaki (piano).
The concert’s centerpiece is a ROCO-commissioned quartet by Hiroaki Tokunaga. Entitled 「 宙 （そら）の谺（こだま）」 – Sora no Kodama (Echoes of the Cosmos), the work is inspired by journeys of space exploration and the perspective of astronauts. Tokunaga describes the work as “a musical reflection on humanity’s awe of the universe…the playful dance of the stars, a longing for the eternal cosmos, and the idea of the universe as the birthplace of life.”
Frequent ROCO collaborator Andrew Earle Simpson has created an arrangement of “Luna,” a movement from one of his previous works titled Nebula. The new revision will receive its world premiere at the concert.
Excerpts from Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade provide structure to the program, being inserted as a prologue, promenades, and an epilogue to connect the pieces into a narrative arc exploring the concert’s theme.
Also featured on the concert are arrangements of “Mars, the Bringer of War” from Gustav Holst’s The Planets, Claude Debussy’s Clair de la lune, and Taishi Ogura’s “On a Star-Falling Hill 「星降る丘」”, from her suite, Musicians Who Set Out to Reach the Stars「星を掴みにいった音楽家たち」.
Paired with a display of Japanese fashion drawn from Houston City College’s Fashion Archive, the evening presents a colorful tapestry of sound, art, and Japanese culture.
Pay-What-You-Wish concert tickets are available now on the official event webpage, with a free livestream at roco.org/live,on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and in the ROCO mobile app.
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