This is our new project. Some people have commented that we should carry Japanese traditional music. We were contacted by this talented young Koto player and decided to offer her CD to our customers. We would like to expand the collection of Japanese traditional music.
Masayo Ishigure began playing the koto and Jiuta Shamisen at the age of five in Gifu, Japan. After initial studies with Tadao and Kazue Sawai, she became a special research student in 1986 at the Sawai Koto Academy of Music. The aim of the academy was to shed new light on koto music by incorporating everything from Bach to jazz and thus change the koto from being thought of only as a traditional Japanese instrument into an instrument of universal expressiveness. Later Masayo Ishigure became one of a small group of virtuoso disciples of the Sawais and successfully completed the 33rd Ikusei-kai program sponsored by NHK to foster and train aspiring artists in Japanese music.
In 1988 Ms. Ishigure received a degree in Japanese
Traditional Music at Takasaki Junior Arts College with
a concentration in koto and shamisen. The same year
she was recorded on the CD entitled The World of
Tadao Sawai. In 1994 she appeared on the CD entitled
Tori no Yoni: Tadao Sawai Compositions. Since that
time she has performed all over the world, and
appeared in such festivals as Bang on a Can (NYC).
Ms. Ishigure has been featured in two public television broadcasts, Music Under New York and World of Music. In 1997, she recorded Koto music for CBS Master Work for use during the broadcast of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. In December 1997 she performed a classical program of traditional koto music at Carnegie Hall, and in January 1998 she performed at Merkin Hall as part of the Music from Japan series.
In 1992 Ms. Ishigure began teaching koto and shamisen in the music department of Wesleyan University (CT) as an artist in residence where she formed the Wesleyan Koto Ensemble. She also offers private lessons as the only Sawai Koto Academy instructor in the New York metropolitan area.
Grace by Masayo Ishigure. $20.00 (S&H: $3.85). Delivery: one week.
1) TORI NO YONI (Flying Like a Bird) - Tadao Sawai 1985
2) HARU NO UMI ( The Sea in Spring) - Michio Miyagi 1930
3) SUNAE (Sand Painting) - Tadao Sawai 1972
4) FUTATSU NO HENSOKYOKU (Two Variations - SAKURA and KOJO NO TSUKI) - Tadao Sawai 1971
5) EMU (Picture Dreams) - Hideaki Kuribayashi 1975
6) HARU NO Yo(A Spring Night) - Michio Miyagi 1913
7) MIDNIGHT RAIN - Elizabeth Falconer 1989
Marco Lienhard was previously a member of the internationally acclaimed
Japanese taiko group Ondekoza from 1981-1994. While touring as a professional
taiko player in Japan, he studied the shakuhachi under Masters Teruo Furuya
and Katsuya Yokoyama, quickly becoming a virtuoso solo artist.
Lienhard has performed more than 2000 concerts in Europe, Asia and North
America with appearances at some of the world's most prestigious venues
including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Boston Symphony Hall, Osaka Castle
Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Center and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.
For more information, access his website.
Theme Music From H. Miyazaki Anime: $20.00 (S&H: $3.85). Delivery: one week.
The East Winds Ensemble was formed in New York in 1999. Since then, performances have taken the group to Japan, Mexico and around the US. The members have performed in some of the world's most renowned halls such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Boston Symphony Hall, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Osaka Festival Hall, etc. 2003: Japan, Mexico, US, Europe.
Past concerts include, Symphony Space in New York, Salamanca Hall in Gifu Japan, concert in Tokyo, Museum of Art of Gifu, Concert for World Music Institute in New York, U of Maryland, Gettysburg College, Wesleyan College, University of Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
The enchanted sounds of the shakuhachi and the koto will be featured in
an exciting program of modern and traditional music performed by the main members of the group Masayo Ishigure and Marco Lienhard. They have released a CD to critical acclaim and have collaborated on many other projects.
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