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If you’ve ever wished you could step inside a Studio Ghibli film—not just wander a lush forest with Totoro or soar alongside Howl but hear the sweeping music live—your wish is about to be granted. For one night only this fall, the Sixth Station Trio is bringing the soundtracks of Hayao Miyazaki’s most beloved films to the awe-inspiring Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.
On Thursday, October 2, 2025, the San Francisco-based violin, cello and piano trio will make their New York debut with Ghibli in Concert. From 7:30pm to 9pm, the trio will transform the cavernous nave of the world’s largest Gothic cathedral into a temple of nostalgia, filled with the melodies of Joe Hisaishi, Satoshi Takebe and Yuji Nomi. Expect the goosebump-inducing themes from films like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle and more, played with the kind of reverence (and drama) the setting practically demands.
Though the trio officially formed just a few years ago, its members have been making music together since their high school days at San Francisco’s Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. After formal training at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, they reunited under the Sixth Station banner, a name that nods to the ethereal "Sixth Station" track from Spirited Away. Their 2023 debut at Grace Cathedral sold out, cementing them as one of the most buzzed-about young ensembles reimagining film scores for chamber performance. Since then, they’ve packed houses everywhere from anime conventions to the Asian Art Museum.
What makes this group so compelling is the way they straddle genres. One minute, they’re nailing Hisaishi’s soaring romanticism; the next, they’re sneaking in flourishes that wouldn’t sound out of place at a gaming convention or a symphony hall. And unlike some “tribute” acts that coast on nostalgia, the Sixth Station Trio treats the music as high art—which, if you’ve ever wept during the first notes of One Summer’s Day, you know it is.
For fans, the chance to hear these scores inside Saint John the Divine is about as magical as it gets. Tickets are limited and if the group’s sold-out track record is anything to go by, they won’t last long.
Dust off your soot sprites, bring tissues and prepare to be spirited away—literally—by the music that defined a generation of dreamers.