Events

Time & Location

April 6, 7:30pm

Carnegie Hall (New York, NY)

About

Masayo Ishigure Koto and Shamisen Recital Commemorating the 30th anniversary of her professional career in the United States. This program offers a glimpse into the history of Japanese music and can be enjoyed by a wide range of audiences.

Artists

Masayo Ishigure: Koto/ Bass koto/ Shamisen
(Guest Artists)
Zac Zinger: Shakuhachi
Nothan Koci: Piano
Noriko Tsuboi: Koto
Miyabi koto and shamisen Ensemble: Koto

Biographies

Masayo Ishigure (Koto, Shamisen, Bass Koto)
Masayo Ishigure began playing koto and jiuta shamisen at the age of five in Gifu Prefecture, and later studied under Tadao and Kazue Sawai. In 1986 she became a special research student at Sawai Koto Institute. She moved to the U.S. in 1992 to teach Koto and Shamisen classes at Wesleyan University in CT. In 2005 she was invited to play the koto on the soundtrack of the Academy Award-winning film Memoirs of a Geisha (SAYURI), music by John Williams, with Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and others. In 2007 Masayo was nominated for Newsweek magazine s 100 Japanese People the World Respects. She was nominated by the late prime minister Shinzo Abe as one of five Japanese women active in New York. 2010-2021 Masayo held Koto classes at Columbia University. She gives private lessons in New York City.

Miyabi Koto and Shamisen Ensemble
Classical and Contemporary Japanese Koto Music Koto and Shamisen Ensemble “MIYABI” was founded in 1996 in New York City as a branch of the Sawai Koto Academy of Japan, with repertoire ranging from classical to contemporary koto music. The founder of Sawai Koto Academy, Tadao Sawai, is known as one of the greatest players and composers of koto music in the 20th Century.

The ensemble especially dedicate themselves to playing Tadao Sawai‘s koto music. They have played many concerts in the New York Metropolitan area, the eastern United States, Hawaii, Australia, South America and Japan. The leader of the NY Ensemble is Ms. Masayo Ishigure.

For tickets more information visit the Carnegie Hall website.

This event is supported through JFNY Grant for Arts & Culture grant.