Music Sharing

Photo:Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Since her debut at the age of 11 with the New York Philharmonic over 25 years ago, the violinist Midori has established a record of achievement which sets her apart as a master musician, an innovator, and a champion of the developmental potential of children. Named a Messenger of Peace by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2007, she has created a new model for young artists who seek to balance the joys and demands of a performing career at the highest level with a hands-on investment in the power of music to change lives.

In 1992 Midori founded Midori & Friends, a non-profit organization in New York, which brings music education programs to thousands of underprivileged children each year. Two other organizations, Music Sharing (based in Japan), and Partners in Performance (based in the US), also bring music into the lives of people who may not otherwise have involvement with the arts. Her commitment to community collaboration and outreach extends beyond these foundations to her work with young violinists in master classes all over the world, to her Orchestra Residencies Program, and to her positions as Jascha Heifetz Chair and Chair of the Strings Department at USC’s Thornton School of Music.

Official Site　http://www.gotomidori.com/

After studying in Toho Sr. High School, OKADA Masaru went to Austria to study at Salzburg Mozarteum, and also Hochschule der Künste in Berlin from '95. He has been awarded 1st prize at A. Schnabel Competition in '97and at 5th F. Liszt Int'l Piano Competition in '99. He held recitals in Europe and U.S.A.. He has performed successfully with Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra under Z. Kocsis. In '01, he was given a Jury Discretionary Award at 11th Van Cliburn Int'l Piano Competition. He also received many awards in Japan.

Official Site　http://masaru-okada.com/

photo: Ariga Terasawa

Soichi Muraji was born in 1982. His father was his first classical guitar teacher, and Soichi started playing the guitar when he was 3 years old. His principal teachers in Japan include Shinichi Fukuda and Daisuke Suzuki.

Soichi has won 1st Prize in many competitions; the 1993 Junior Guitar Competition, 1996 Student Guitar Competition, 1997 Classical Guitar Competition, 1998 in the Spanish Guitar Competition and the 41st Tokyo international Guitar Competition.
Soichi came to U.S.A in 1999. Soichi has studied in Boston with Eliot Fisk at the New England Conservatory, with David Leisner at both the New England Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music in New York, and David Starobin at the Manhattan School of Music. In September 2003, Soichi was chosen to play the Concierto de Aranjuez in US-Japan 150-Year Anniversary Ceremony in Chicago. In March 2006, he made his North American debut recital by performing at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and in September, he was chosen to play in New York City’s commemoration of September 11th.

Soichi’s sixth solo CD “Reverie” was released in May 2008 on the JVC label in Japan.

Official Site　http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/murajisoichi/

Kazue Sawai began studying the Koto at the age of 8 under the legendary koto player and composer Michio Miyagi, and is a graduate of the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. In 1979, she and her husband Tadao Sawai established the Sawai Koto Academy.

A leading figure in the contemporary Japanese music movement, Sawai took a unique and unprecedented approach to performing koto, with an extensive Japan tours, playing anywhere, for anyone with an interest in the koto. These early touring performances along with the “Triangle Music Tour” collaborations with composer Toshi Ichiyanagi and percussionist Sumire Yoshiwara numbered upwards of 70 stages.

Sawai's album with Ayuo Takahashi, Hiromi Ohta, and Peter Hamill, along with concerts and recordings produced by the likes of Yuji Takahashi and John Zorn, attest to the multifaceted approach she takes to her music.

Since 1989, beginning with New York's Bang on a Can Festival, Sawai has performed at various music festivals throughout Europe and the Americas with venues including Vienna, the Mels Jazz Festival, and the Paris City Theater.

The Kazue Sawai Koto Ensemble travels extensively, and with approximately 10 international performances a year as part of its continuing world tour, the group can be found making appearances on various diverse musical stages around the globe.

Sawai is also actively involved with projects such as "Kazue Sawai 360 Degrees" and "Music Action" in France, working with young artists of varying genres in seeking innovative experimental performance situations. Through such activities, she is opening doors for whole new groups never before having had the opportunity to experience the depth and breadth of the koto's sound world.

In other areas, Sawai has done improvisational work with Indonesian dancer Sardon Kusumo, and Korean shaman artist Kim Sokchul. Sawai's work with the renowned Russian composer Sophia Gubaidulina began with improvisation, leading to a CD collaboration and performances of the composer's works for koto. The most recent product of their collaboration is the koto concerto commissioned by Japan's NHK Symphony Orchestra which was premiered and recorded by Sawai in Japan and America in the spring of 1999.

Official Site　http://www.soukyokuin.com/

Born in Japan, Ko Ishikawa studied sho with Mayumi Miyata and Hideaki Bunno, and gagaku ensemble and theory under Sukeyasu Shiba. After completing the master's degree in philosophy at the Sophia University, he joined the gagaku ensemble, Reigakusha, regularly performing at the National Theater as well as numerous music festivals around the globe. In October 2003, he took part in the Sound Field Festival held in Chicago, and he has also participated in the Transonic Festival in Berlin in January 2004.

Apart from sho, Ishikawa also plays wu, which is a re-constructed instrument discovered in the Shosoin Treasure House. As well as performing the traditional repertoire, Ishikawa is also very much involved in the field contemporary music. He has performed with orchestras and musicians from other genre, and has made a number of recordings.

Official Site　http://www.ko-ishikawa.net/kobio.html

Reigakusha　http://reigakusha.com/

Hitomi Nakamura（Hichiriki, double-reed vertical flute received her M.A. from Tokyo University of the Arts, and has been performing both classical and modern pieces on gagaku instruments. As a member of the Reigakusha Gagaku Ensemble, led by her mentor Sukeyasu Shiba, she has performed in the National Theatre of Japan and abroad in the Tanglewood Musical Festival, the Viena Modern Music Festival, the Ultima Contemporary Music Festival, and the Music from Japan Festival, etc. Active in many performance arenas she has appeared in the premiere performances of many contemporary composers. She is the creator of the “Ashi no Kaze (Reed Wind)” Recital Series designed to develop the musicality and performance techniques of the hichiriki, which is rarely played as a solo instrument. The recitals have generated seventeen new pieces for the hichiriki repertory, both ensemble and solo pieces. As a founding-mentor, she plays a leading role in Columbia’s pioneering Mentor/ Protege Summer Gagaku Program in Tokyo.

Official Site　http://www.gagaku.jp/hitomi-hichiriki/

Reigakusha　http://reigakusha.com/

Yagi was born in 1962 as the son of a Buddhist priest, and was interested since childhood in the Gagaku music performed at his temple for ceremonies. At the age of 22, he began his study of Gagaku music by joining the Gagaku Orchestra at Zojoji temple inTokyo, Yagi studied under the musicians, Ue Kinsei and Shiba Sukeyasu.

At present, he remains a member of the Gagaku Orchestra at Zojoji temple, and also belongs to the “Reigakusha” Gagaku group lead by the musical director Shiba Sukeyasu. As a member of these groups, he performs both classic Gagaku musical pieces and modern Gagaku renditions both within Japan and internationally.

He has performed at the National Theater Gagaku Performance in Tokyo from 1990; the Yatsugatake Music Festival in 1994; the Reigakusha Group Performance in America in 1996; the Tanglewood Music Festival, Lincoln Center Festival, PMF Sapporo in 1997; The Reigakusha Group Performance in Europe (Brussels, Berlin, Oslo Ultima Festival) in 2000; among others.

Since 2006, as a member of the Music Sharing Group presided by Goto Midori, he has participated in the Gagaku Lecture-Concert Program at elementary schools and handicapped schools throughout Japan.

In 2006, Yagi received high accolades for his playing of the ryuteki flute and biwa lute for the musical piece titled “Hakushu―Nami no aida ni” during the concert of Nakamura Yoko’s newly composed music, “Road to the Northeast,” held at the Denzuin Temple in Tokyo.

Reigakusha　http://reigakusha.com/