Multus #3: Canto Ostinato for 4 Pianos

This music can change your life.－The film Over Canto (2011)


Tomoko Mukaiyama challenged the line beyond music and stage performance. …the boundaries between the auditorium and the stage were completely broken.－The Nihon Keizai Shimbun



“Multus” in Latin means “many” or “more”. Tomoko Mukaiyama created a series of concerts in Japan and the Netherlands with multiple pianos and performing art forms.

The late Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato (1976) is a minimal music classic. Since its premiere in 1979, it has been performed all over the world. Canto Ostinato is a collection of compositions, making every performance unique.

Tomoko started playing Canto Ostinato with two pianos in 2012, then expanded it to Multus #3: Canto Ostinato for 4 Pianos. As she plays in different cities, she works with different musicians. This time, she called on two outstanding pianists from Taiwan, WANG Wen-chuan and CHIANG Tien-lin. Together with Gerard Bouwhuis, they interpret Multus #3.

Canto Ostinato by Simeon ten Holt

Simeon ten Holt, Composer
Born in Bergen, the Netherlands in 1923, Simeon ten Holt first studied piano and theory under Jacob van Domeslaer. In 1949, he moved to Paris where he continued his studies at the École Normale under Arthur Honegger and Darius Milhaud. After returning to Bergen, he founded Werkgroep Bergen Hedendaagse Muziek. Ten Holt's early creative endeavors embraced serialism, electronic media and improvisation. In the late 1970s, he developed a style that featured simple chords, shifting rhythmic patterns and repetition, achieving a hypnotic, multi-layered cumulative effect. Canto Ostinato (1976-1979) is the first and arguably best known of ten Holt's keyboard works in this style, and surely the most frequently performed. Ten Holt passed away in 2012, leaving behind many outstanding compositions.


Tomoko Mukaiyama, Concept & Pianist
Tomoko Mukaiyama is a Dutch-Japanese pianist, performer and visual artist based in Amsterdam. She has been engaged by many prestigious orchestras and ensembles throughout the world. As a multimodal artist, she develops performing arts projects and art installations that combine music with modern dance, fashion and visual art. The core of Tomoko’s work is communication with the audience. This is why she creates a wide variety of projects in different spaces. She moves between performing in more prestigious venues and creating musical experiences for the intimacy of just one visitor. At this moment she is preparing a new music theater work entitled NohNohNoh for 2019. She received the Japanese Dance Forum Award in 2017.


Gerard Bouwhuis, Pianist
Gerard Bouwhuis has established himself as one of the leading contemporary music pianists in the Netherlands. He is especially interested in modern music and is a sought-after musician by orchestras and ensembles throughout the Netherlands. Many Dutch composers have written pieces for Bouwhuis. He is a member of LOOS and has formed a piano duo with Cees van Zeeland. With violinist Heleen Hulst, he founded the chamber music group Nieuw Amsterdams Peil. For his contribution to Dutch music he was awarded the Theo Bruins Prize. Bouwhuis currently teaches contemporary music at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.


WANG Wen-chuan, Pianist
WANG Wen-chuan received her doctoral degree in Music Performing Art (D.M.A) from Taipei National University of the Arts under the tutelage of Prof. Rolf-Peter Wille. She won Best Performance of Taiwanese Composition at the 2007 NTSO Piano Concerto Competition. She has also been awarded various prizes at international and national competitions. She is an inspired and dedicated musician with experience as a piano soloist, a chamber pianist, and a piano accompanist, performing music from a variety of genres.


CHIANG Tien-lin, Pianist
CHIANG Tien-lin completed his graduate studies in music at the Taipei National University of the Arts under the tutelage of Prof. Rolf-Peter Wille. In addition to classical music, he has crossed over into jazz and pop music. He is considered a rising star in Taiwan’s music circles, having shared the stage with many internationally respected musicians. In 2016, his debut album Piano Love Songs was released by the Universal Music Group. During its first week, it rocketed to the top of the classical music chart on iTunes, as well as to number one among classical music releases of the top five record labels. He has followed up with albums in Taiwan and China, which have received critical acclaim.


Yutaka Endo, Technical Director 
Born in Niigata, Japan in 1977, Yutaka Endo is an Art Director & Producer at LUFTZUG now. He has produced many unique works that integrate music, video, design and computer technology, but that are focused on contemporary dance. In 2005, he founded LUFTZUG CO., LTD. out of a desire to engage in creative directing. This was followed by the opening of LUFTZUG EUROPE in Amsterdam in 2012. Endo endeavors to develop productions that contain social meaning. His credits as technical director include installation projects for MILAN DESIGN WEEK, Baselworld “Room of Objects, Sounds and Video” for Design Ah! Exhibition, CITIZEN Light is Time, Hokusai Exhibition, 21_21 Design Sight Exhibition “Architect Frank Gehry I Have an Idea” and Tomoko Mukaiyama’s      La Mode.





Production /  
Concept / Tomoko Mukaiyama
Music / Canto Ostinato by Simeon ten Holt
Piano / Tomoko Mukaiyama, Gerard Bouwhuis, WANG Wen-chuan, CHIANG Tien-lin
Technical Director / Yutaka Endo
Tomoko Mukaiyama Foundation is supported by