Ichiko Aoba at The Carolina Theatre

Across The Oceans Tour 2026

Durham dreamers! North Carolina noise makers! — we’re calling on all of you! Because this spring, The Theatre is going straight fairytale mode for one night only. That’s cause on Friday, May 1st, we’re welcoming one of Japan’s most mesmerizing voices, Ichiko Aoba, for her stop here on the inaugural Maiden Voyage:  Across The Oceans Tour 2026 — a worldwide journey that’s been floating from Helsinki to Vienna, from Paris to Toronto, and now - right here to North Carolina and washing up on our shores. From Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall to The Caverns in Tennessee to London’s Royal Albert Hall, Ichiko’s bringing her ethereal sound to some of the world’s most intimate and beautiful venues.  Whether you’ve seen her before in concert halls around the world or this is your first time stepping into her sonic universe — get ready for her best night ever. This is going to be one of those nights that lives rent-free in our minds all year long as one of the best shows of the season. 

Ichiko Aoba isn’t your average singer-songwriter — she’s a world-builder true and through. Since her debut at just 19, Ichiko has become a defining name in Japan’s new generation of folk artists - crafting soundscapes that feel like dreams you don’t want to wake from. She’s been praised by Pitchfork, The Guardian, and BBC Radio 6, and her 2020 record Windswept Adan was hailed as one of the most transcendent albums of the decade. It felt like an oceanic folk opera that introduced her to international audiences. Her latest album, Luminescent Creatures (2025), continues that story, and it’s the centerpiece of this new tour — a shimmering world of strings, whispers, and waves that she’ll bring to life right on stage. And The Carolina Theatre fits right in with that lineage — the perfect space for stillness, breath, and connection. Expect a night filled with soft storytelling, surreal visuals, and a setlist that bridges her earliest songs like “Easter Lily” and “Kikaijikake no Uchuu” with her newer, symphonic work.

So bring your friends, your notebooks, and your open hearts — this isn’t just a concert, it’s an immersion. A night where time slows down, the lights dim, and we all drift together across the ocean of sound. May 1st, 2026 — The Carolina Theatre. We’ll see you there.