from $30
Ghibli Jazz Orchestra
Under the direction of Isabel Leong, Vancouver’s Ghibli Jazz Orchestra is composed of 18 musicians who combine their love of Studio Ghibli films & video games with a deep reverence of the big bands of the 1940s, focusing on composer Joe Hisaishi’s scores for the Japanese animation studio’s award-winning films.
A graduate of Capilano University’s jazz music program with a guitar focus, Leong first discovered Hisaishi’s music in director Hayao Miyazaki films such as My Neighbour Totoro and the Academy Award-winning Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron.
She told The Vancouver Sun, “It began as a bit of a joke in second year when we were all hanging out in this hallway at Cap U where all of the jazz students go and I just wondered if it could ever work to form a big band to play Studio Ghibli music. I thought no, but two friends pushed me to post a Facebook message asking if anyone would be interested. The response was overwhelming and here we are.”
Indeed, the project’s trajectory has been sharply upward—come and see what all the delightful fuss is about.
