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Closer through music: East meets West in Symphony Kūkai 

A choral symphony tells the tale of Buddhist enlightenment in the 8th century

On 30 January 2026 Symphony Kūkai completed an unforgettable performance at London’s Royal Festival Hall, part of its ongoing global tour. The concert united the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the China Central Conservatory of Music Choir and the London Philharmonic Choir – an international gathering that reflects the spirit of the work itself.

Yet Symphony Kūkai is more than a cross-cultural collaboration. Written by renowned Chinese composer Zou Ye between 2021 and 2023, it is a dramatic musical telling of an extraordinary human journey: Monk Kūkai’s perilous voyage across treacherous seas, his spiritual awakening in Tang-dynasty China, and the enduring legacy he carried back to Japan.

Structured in six movements, the 90-minute symphony blends Western symphonic architecture with Eastern tonal colours and choral settings drawn from ancient Buddhist writings. The result unfolds as a narrative arc audiences can experience emotionally as well as historically.

Musically, the work ranges from surging percussion to passages of hushed, chant-like intimacy. These contrasts mirror its themes of unity, compassion and understanding, guiding audiences through danger, revelation and transcendence.

Monk Kūkai – a life of learning and enlightenment

The life at the centre of the symphony is remarkable. Born in 774AD, Kūkai became one of Japan’s most revered Buddhist monks. Of the four ships that sailed from Japan to Tang-dynasty China in search of advanced teaching, only his ship successfully reached Tang China on its first attempt.

In China, he studied esoteric Buddhism under Master Huiguo and is said to have absorbed in months what would normally take decades. On returning to Japan, he founded the Shingon sect – still one of the country’s most prominent Buddhist schools – and introduced new ideas in literature, art and architecture, leaving a lasting mark on Japanese culture.

Kūkai’s story in sound

The symphony has toured globally, reaching cities from Auckland to Osaka. In London, it was conducted by Maestro Takuo Yuasa, whose connection to Kūkai is both artistic and personal.

‘Kūkai’s denomination is my denomination,’ he explains. ‘I have a small Shingon Buddhist shrine in my home and from my window I can see the mountain where the temple stands.’ He has absorbed the stories of Kūkai since he was a child and even shares his birthday with the monk.

For Yuasa, the symphony expresses Buddhist teaching as lived experience. ‘This symphony leads the listener through Buddhist teaching towards nirvana,’ he says. ’It opens a window onto a different way of seeing and thinking. Many of us long for that state, whether we are conscious of it or not. The music offers a threshold for both the eyes and the mind, moving beyond worldly concerns and closer to something universal.’

Audiences have responded deeply. Yuasa says listeners often tell him ‘their hearts have opened’ – a reflection of the work’s emotional impact as much as its historical subject.

A global cultural exchange

The themes of wisdom, hope and compassion lie at the heart of the symphony. A Chinese composer writing about a Japanese spiritual figure, performed by British and international musicians, embodies dialogue and shared humanity at a time when such values feel increasingly urgent.

Produced in association with Tianguzhiyin, a cultural organisation dedicated to promoting traditional Chinese culture while fostering global awareness of Eastern and Western artistic traditions, the project is currently in a brief interlude as further dates are scheduled. During its run it has also reached beyond traditional concert halls, including a collaboration with the British Museum that brought the music into its Japanese Gallery.

Not simply a portrait of an 8th-century monk, Symphony Kūkai offers a contemporary encounter with a thousand-year-old spiritual journey. Through sound, it reminds us that compassion and the interconnectedness of all beings remain as vital now as they were in Kūkai’s own lifetime.