Not Held at Japan Society – Weaving Japanese Sounds: Music of Modern Japan

Friday, June 3
7:30 pm (7 pm: Pre-concert Talk by Sachiko Kato and Chie Sato Roden)

Pianists Chie Sato Roden and Sachiko Kato will perform various solo and piano duo works by Akemi Naito, Joji Yuasa, Toshiya Sukegawa, Yoichi Togawa,  Kohei Fujita, Shigenobu Nakamura and Takashi Yoshimatsu.

Friday, June 10
7:30 pm(7 pm Pre-concert talk by Mr. Frank Oteri of American Music Center)

Yosuke Kawasaki, violin, Tanya Dusevik Witek, flute, Katherine Cherbas, cello, Tamara Hardesty, soprano, Makoto Nakura, marimba, and Sachiko Kato, piano will perform chamber music by Michio Mamiya, Shin-ichiro Ikebe, Toshio Hosokawa, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Junko Mori, Teizo Matsumura, and the World Premiere of the Weaving Japanese Sounds Commission Three Bagatelles for piano trio (2005) by Moto Osada.

Admission: $15 (at the door) (Tickets for these concerts are $15 each and are available through Yamaha Artist Services at 212-339-9995 ext. 227 or Weaving Japanese Sounds at 212-932-9582)

Both programs show a wide spectrum of Japanese musical culture in the 21st Century and include light hearted music influenced by popular culture, music that represents the rapid economic growth and industrialization of the 60’s and 70’s, music that is deeply rooted in Japanese folk culture, music infused with the Japanese sense of tranquility and timing (typified by Noh), and finally, music that reveals a great confluence of other cultures in this rapidly shrinking world of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Not only do these programs reveal various musical trends, but they also show a wide range in composers’ generations and gender. Some of the composers whose works will be represented are already very well established statesmen of music, while others are emerging young composers. Special attention was given to introduce young composers who are creating their own sounds in New York.

For more about these programs and performers, visit http://www.jamesarts.com/releases/march05/JProgram_030905.htm.