Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi performs film scores live in Tokyo during 2003

Live renditions of music from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbour Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service.

In April 2003, longtime Studio Ghibli composer and pianist Joe Hisaishi travelled to the Tokyo Opera City concert hall as part of his Etude & Encore tour.

Listen next: Studio Ghibli’s music explored in three-part mix

With Hisaishi acting as both conductor and pianist, he was joined by nine cellists – Haruki Matsuba, Hiromi Uekusa, Makoto Osawa, Masanori Taniguchi, Seiko Ishida, Susumu Miyake, Takashi Kondo and Yoshihiko Maeda, and Hiroshi Kondo.

The concert includes tracks from iconic Ghibli films Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbour Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service.

An audio recording of the performance was later released by Universal Music on CD, under the name A Wish to the Moon: Joe Hisaishi & 9 Cellos 2003 Etude & Encore Tour in 2003.

Watch the performance in full above, and check out the setlist below.

Setlist:

1. Kiki
2. Road To The Valley
3. View Of Silence
4. Path of the Wind
5. Asian Dream Song
6. Friends
7. Summer
8. One Summer’s Day
9. Hana-bi
10. Moonlight Serenade ~ Silence
11. A Man Possessed by the Moon
12. Impossible Dream
13. Starry Skied Dream
14. Bolero
15. A Wish To The Moon
16. Musée Imaginaire
17. La Pioggia
18. Tango X.T.C.
19. Totoro
20. Madness
21. I Only Saw You