There are few sounds more quintessentially Japanese than the shakuhachi, an end-blown bamboo flute. Kodō Araki the 6th is a living connection to this music dating back to the middle of the 18th century. For the Araki family, the shakuhachi is more than a musical instrument; it is a conduit handed down through his family […]
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One World Taiko, founded in 1990 in San Francisco, is led by founding members Gary Tsujimoto and Nancy Ozaki. OWT presents a contemporary style of Japanese drumming that incorporates dynamic and fluid movement. Their repertoire includes traditional pieces, which were taught to them by the world-renowned groups Kodo and Ondekoza from Japan, and their own […]
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Aono Jikken, pronounced Ah-Oh-No Gee-Ken (Japanese for blue field experiment), is a Seattle-based experimental ensemble. Through structured improvisation the group creates unique music and soundscapes played on everything from traditional Asian and Western instruments to childrens sound toys, found objects, and specially invented instruments made of metal, plastic, kelp and other materials. The group also […]
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Kevin Simmonds is a musician and writer originally from New Orleans. He studied music at Vanderbilt University, Middle Tennessee State University and completed the Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina. He founded Tono International Arts Association, an international arts presenter in northern Japan (Iwate Prefecture). Kevin received a Fulbright fellowship to Singapore where he […]
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Seattle Kokon Taiko is a performing group based in the local Seattle Japanese American community. SKT traces its roots to the Seattle Taiko Group, which formed in April 1980 following a dynamic performance by Ondekoza at the Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival. In 1987, three members left STG to form Kokon Taiko Ensemble and focus on […]
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Elizabeth Falconer is one of the few American masters of the koto, a traditional zither from Japan. She began playing the koto in 1979. She earned a junshihan (associate degree) from the Seiha Koto School, studying under Nagane Utayumi. This school focused on classical works. She later moved to Tokyo and studied under the esteemed […]
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Sumiko Sato is a Composer/Pianist and Japanese native who finished her doctorate at the University of Washington in Composition. She studied composition with Ken Benshoof and Richard Karpen, and piano with Patricia Michaelian. She has also worked with many of her contemporary Seattle musicians in the ’90s. Her music is often inspired by sound in […]
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Mako (formerly Paul) Kikuchi attended an Ella Fitzgerald concert while in the womb and was born the next day. He shares a birthday with Prince. His music is wide ranging — from drone/ambient soundscapes to compositions for traditional Japanese instruments, and has been described as “. . . somewhere between natural and deliberate, between wind […]
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Here you’ll find past podcasts from our Soundpages, Artist of the Week and Writers Programs. |
