In July 2026, violinist Sayaka Shoji recorded two works by Tōru Takemitsu with pianist Stephen Kovacevich, who passed away on October 27, 2026, at the age of 86. Also featured on this album, due for release on Alpha Classics in January 2027, are pieces for solo violin by Toshio Hosokawa and Max Richter’s Recomposed: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons with the Franz Schubert Filharmonia.

Sayaka Shoji pays tribute to the legendary pianist: "I am deeply saddened by the passing of Stephen Kovacevich. I’m truly grateful that we not only shared unforgettable moments on stage, but were able to leave this most intimate and poetic repertoire to the world."

In Shadows, Sayaka Shoji presents a highly singular project: “Bringing Richter together with Takemitsu and Hosokawa is not an obvious choice at first glance,” says the Japanese violinist. “Japan has a culture of kigo — a word or image in a haiku or tanka that evokes a season and its specific emotion without the season itself being named — this concept has guided me in associating each piece with a season.” We hear two works by Takemitsu for violin and piano, with the magnificent partnership of Stephen Kovacevich: one inspired by the surrealist poetry of Shūzō Takiguchi, the other by the poem In the Shadows, co-written by Makoto Ōoka, an ambassador for the ancient Japanese tradition of renshi, a chain of collaborative poems, which strikes Shoji as deeply musical. She also performs two highly impressive solo pieces by Toshio Hosokawa, one of which, Extasis, was composed for the violinist in 2016. This evocative journey through the cycle of the seasons culminates in Max Richter’s famous post-minimalist work, Recomposed: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons, in its original 2012 version, featuring the Spanish ensemble Franz Schubert Filharmonia.