Strings and Serpents is an international collaboration featuring two pianos, two kotos and animation. Projected during the performance is an animated film depicting The Rainbow Serpent Mythology. Created by Andy Milne and commissioned by The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts, the project premiered in October 2014 at New York’s Lincoln Center. It features Milne with French pianist Benoit Delbecq, Japanese koto masters Tsugumi Yamamoto and Yoko Reikano Kimura, and Japanese animator Saki Murotani. The music blends traditional and modern koto textures with the language of jazz and contemporary improvisation. A synthesis of Japanese and Western structures in terms of melody, form, improvisational language and rhythm, the work merges musical and visual forms into a unified experience.

The animation employs 2-D and 3-D computer-generated imagery (CGI) inspired by the music. The story is told visually, without dialogue or subtitles, and elegantly projects a visual composition that experiments with color, shape, texture, light and motion to enrich the relationship between the pianos and kotos. Strings & Serpents was created through the support of The Japan Foundation and New Music USA. In 2019 they will release their debut recording and tour North America.

official press materials