A Heady Kind of Music: Andy Akiho’s Bronze I and Bronze II
Composer Andy Akiho. Photo by Da Ping Luo
A large bronze head rings across the room as it’s struck by a mallet. Countless metal tabs are jutting out from its face, and percussionist and composer Andy Akiho navigates the sculpture with ease as he hits each tab. The work he plays is Bronze II, used in a teaser video posted by Omaha Symphony.
The heads, which come in a pair, are used in two movements, Bronze I and Bronze II, and are existing sculptures by ceramic artist Jun Kaneko. Known for his large-scale sculptures, Kaneko’s bronze Heads are part of his collection of untitled Heads: massive sculptures not unlike the one Akiho plays on, made from ceramics and in different designs. Kaneko has collaborated with Omaha Symphony and Akiho to create the 9-movement musical work Sculptures (2023), where Bronze I and II feature as the second and penultimate movements. Akiho uses Sculptures to translate Kaneko’s visual artistry through the musical medium, with some movements referencing Kaneko’s aesthetic principles and others, like Bronze I and II, utilising his existing artwork.
But how does one “play” an over 6-foot-tall bronze head? Akiho’s process is seen as equal parts methodical and experimental. While he has explained how meticulous he has been in finding the fundamental pitch and overtones for each metal tab, there have been other “childlike” instances of composition, like hitting the head in various spots to hear what sounds come out from it. The music that emerges from Bronze I and II honour Akiho’s experimentation: The metal tabs in Bronze I are entirely bowed, giving the movement a meditative, reflective nature. Bronze II carries a heightened sense of energy and drive in its percussive quality, where every crevice of the head is deftly struck by two percussionists.
It’s not everyday that you see (or hear) a bronze sculpture being used as a musical instrument. Bronze I and Bronze II are similar to a branch of percussion music called “found sound percussion,” where non-musical objects are delegated a musical role. The sounds made are unique to these objects, and are explored to give way to new musical works that conventional instruments may not easily replicate. Other found sound works include Ceramics (2019) for bowls, another work by Akiho, or Water Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra (1998) by Chinese composer Tan Dun.
While serving as a direct link between Akiho’s musical direction and Kaneko’s artistic works, the choice in using the Heads as an instrument to ground the two movements may relate to a larger principle realised in Akiho’s compositions: that with experimentation comes identity. Akiho’s relationship with Kaneko’s bronze Heads are uniquely his own, accomplished through a year of familiarising himself with Kaneko’s sculptures. Furthermore, his synesthesia, the ability to associate a colour with a sound, has aided Akiho in visualising a vibrant palette of colours that comes with playing the head. Bronze I and II not only serve audiences the visual spectacle of seeing the percussionists play it, but offer a different dimension of understanding the Heads through the sounds they can make. While the premiere of Sculptures with Omaha Symphony has long passed, there exists a recorded album online. Should you listen to Bronze I and Bronze II, you may revel in the delightful realisation that the Heads sound almost human-like: humming, groaning, and gasping.