IMJS: Japanese Cultural Heritage Initiatives Columbia University

Yoko Nishi: Koto Recital
2012-10-19 19:30 (America/New_York) | Tenri Cultural Institute NYC, 43 W 13th Street, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Ms. Nishi will be performing traditional and contemporary koto pieces. Part of the Daniel Pearl World Music Days
Free and open to the public. Seating is limited so please reserve early. For more information please contact the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies.
Sponsored by the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies and the Wayo Center for Cultural Development

Semester-End Recital - Spring 2012
2012-04-25 19:30 | St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, 1160 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY, 10027, United States

Composer's Workshop: New Music for Gagaku & Hogaku Instruments
2012-03-31 11:00 - 17:00 | Sulzberger Parlor, Barnard College, Broadway and 117th Street, New York, NY, 10027, United States

Glories of the Japanese Music Heritage "Japanese Sacred Gagaku Court Music and Secular Art Music: Ancient Soundscapes Reborn"
2012-03-30 20:00 | Miller Theatre, Columbia University, 2960 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, United States
Featuring the renowned Japanese Gagaku musicians
Mayumi Miyata, Shō
Hitomi Nakamura, Hichiriki
Takeshi Sasamoto, Ryūteki
with the Columbia Gagaku Instrumental Ensemble of New York
New York-based Hōgaku artists
Masayo Ishigure, shamisen
Elizabeth Brown, shakuhachi
and the Momenta Quartet
Traditional Pieces
Hyōjō no netori
Etenraku (Music of the Divine Heavens)
Goshōraku no kyū
Kashin (Glorious Days)
Bairo
Torika
Contemporary Pieces
Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) for Otto Tomek (2008)
Flower Meditation Dance
Mirage (2008)
Yaka
Protected by the Imperial Japanese Court for more than 1,000 years, gagaku is the world’s oldest living orchestral music. The program includes traditional pieces, as well as works by contemporary composers at the forefront of a revival of this traditional art form.
Presented by the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies and the Columbia Music Performance Program
Supported by the Consulate General of Japan in New York
Free and open to the public. For more information please contact the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies

Gagaku Master Class
2012-03-29, 2010-03-04, 2008-03-04 | 112 Dodge Hall, 2960 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, United States

Juilliard Gagaku Workshop
2012-03-28 | The Juilliard School, 65 Lincoln Center, New York, NY, 10023, United States

Semester-End Recital - Fall 2011
2011-12-05 19:30 | St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, 1160 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY, 10027, United States

Japan Rising -- The NINA Duo Celebrating Japanese Composers
2011-12-03 14:00 - 17:00 | Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Ave, New York, NY, 10019, United States
Yoko NISHI, koto
Yasuka NAMBU, flute
Saturday, December 3, 2011, 2 pm
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
Yoko Nishi (koto) started learning koto at the age of four and formally studied koto under the modernist performer-composers Tadao Sawai and Kazue Sawai. In 1980, Ms. Nishi won a prize at the Sankyoku competition at the age of sixteen. After graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts, she performed in front of the Japanese Emperor and Empress at the Imperial Palace as a representative from the University at an event organized by the Imperial Household Agency. Her repertory ranges from traditional pieces to contemporary works by John Cage and Yuji Takahashi, collaborations and improvisations with Western instruments, DJs, poets, and artists. She has also become one of the lead performers of ancient musical instruments at the National Theatre, Tokyo. She has performed for international festivals and venues including the Moers Jazz Festival (Germany), Bang on a Can Festival (USA), Transonic2003 (Germany), and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. In 2008, Ms. Nishi performed at an event organized by the governor of Tokyo at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She was also invited to the London Chelsea Festival in the U.K., and had solo concerts in the USA (Washington, D.C., New York, and Chicago) that same year. In 1009 she gave concerts in Hungary (Budapest) and Germany (Berlin, Koln, Frankfurt, and Munich), and 2010 she performed at the Shanghai Expo, and at the Carnegie Hall JapanNYC Festival (Artistic Director, Seiji Ozawa). She has released three solo albums Fantasma (2002), Seasons of Kumano (2010), and The Sea in a Moonlight Night (2011). Miss Nishi has been a visiting professor of Kansai University (2008-2011) and is currently artist-in-residence at Columbia University (2010-2012). She debuts with Yasuka Nambu (flute) in the launching of the NINA Duo at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in December 2011.
Yasuka Nambu (flute) moved to the U.S. at the age of nine. After graduating from the Juilliard Pre-College, she received her Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude in only two years at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) on Baur Scholarship. She went on to receive her Master of Music degree, also at CCM on full scholarship, in orchestral conducting. She then went back to her flute studies at the Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater Hannover, Germany, where she studied with Prof. Erdmuthe Boehr to receive her performing arts diploma with the highest mark. Since returning to Japan five years ago, Miss Nambu has quickly established herself as one of the leading flutists in Japan. Recipient of the 2007 Osaka Arts Award, the 2008 Sakai Tokitada Music Award of Hyogo Prefecture and the 2009 Kobe City Arts Award, she has performed with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio and Baroqueorchester Arco, Hannover, among others. Concerts and recitals take her throughout Japan and Germany, China (including Hong Kong) and the U.S. In addition to major concert and recital halls, her performing venues include: the Expo 2010 Shanghai, the MS Asuka II Cruise, the Junko Koshino Collection, NHK-TV (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) “Gurutto Kansai Plus,” figure skating exhibitions at the Kansai University, Evangelische Schlosskirche Wittenberg and other churches throughout Germany, and the University of California at Long Beach, USA. She is a Visiting Associate Professor of Ashiya University and an artist-in-residence at Columbia University. She debuts with Yoko Nishi (koto) in the launch of the NINA Duo at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in December 2011.

Semester-End Recital - Spring 2011
2011-04-27 20:00 | St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, 1160 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY, 10027, United States

Glories of the Japanese Traditional Music Heritage - Concert II: "Japanese Sacred Court Music and Ancient Soundscapes Reborn"
2011-03-29 18:00 | Miller Theatre, Columbia University, 2960 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, United States
Mayumi Miyata, Shō
Hitomi Nakamura, Hichiriki
Takeshi Sasamoto, Ryūteki
Bridget Kibbey, Harp
Chris Washburne, Trombone
Columbia Gagaku Instument Ensemble
Traditional Pieces
Hyōjō no netori
Etenraku (Music of the Divine Heavens)
Taishikichō no netori
Chōgeishi (In Lasting Celebration)
Batō (Wild Mane)
Sōjō no chōshi
Shundeiraku (Spring Garden Music)
Contemporary Pieces
Yozora (The Night Sky) (1987) (US Premiere)
Utsurohi (Transient) (1986)
Ashibune Bontoro Gō (The Reed Boat “Bontoro”) (2011) (World Premiere)
Reimei (Before the Dawn) (2009) (New York Premiere)
Protected by the Imperial Japanese Court for more than 1,000 years, gagaku is the world’s oldest living orchestral music. The program includes traditional pieces, as well as works by contemporary composers at the forefront of a revival of this traditional art form.

Gagaku Composers' Workshop
2011-03-25 17:00 - 21:00 | 301 Philosophy Hall, 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, United States
Three composers, Ed Green, Kevin Baldwin, and Alexa Babakhanian, will be premiering 3-5 minute works composed for any Gagaku instruments (hichiriki, shō, ryūteki) and up to one Western instrument for the workshop and they and other participants will have discussion and give feedback. Composers and musicians are welcome to attend the workshop.

Glories of the Japanese Traditional Music Heritage - Concert I: "Winds and Strings of Change" Honoring the memory of Toru Takemitsu
2010-12-16 18:00 | Miller Theatre, Columbia University, 2960 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, United States
Organized and Presented by the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies
“Winds and Strings of Change”
A concert of Traditional and Innovative Works in honor of Tōru Takemitsu (Columbia University Honorary Doctorate, 1996) performed by eminent masters:

Yoko Nishi, koto (multiple-stringed zither)
Kifu Mitsuhashi, shakuhachi (end-blown bamboo flute)
Yukio Tanaka, biwa (short-necked lute)
James Nyoraku Schlefer, shakuhachi (end-blown bamboo flute)

Semester-End Recital - Fall 2010
2010-12-04 19:00 | 301 Philosophy Hall, 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, United States

The Koto: Strings in Transformation
2010-11-11 17:30 - 20:00 | 301 Philosophy Hall, 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, United States
A mini-concert and workshop conducted by Yoko Nishi and Masayo Ishigure
The workshop is free and open to the public. Seating priority is given to Columbia students and professional musicians.

Hokkeji Monzeki, Nara, Japan
2010-05-07 | Hokkeji Monzeki, Nara, Nara, Japan
法華寺門跡開山–光明皇后1250年大遠忌–正倉院復元楽器による献曲
Nara, Japan

5th Season of Japanese Sacred Court Music and Ancient Soundscapes Reborn
2010-03-06 | Miller Theatre, Columbia University, 2960 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, United States
Program
Part I: Traditional
Hyōjō netori
Etenraku
Bairo
Kashin
Taishikichō netori
Gakkaen
Batō
Banshikichō netori
Hakuchū
Part II: Contemporary
Sunao Isaji, “Dancing Flute-Playing Girl” (2009), hichiriki solo
Takeshi Sasamoto, “Dōmu”
Elizabeth Brown, “Rubicon” (2009), new commission and world premiere
Remi Miura (shō)
Hitomi Nakamura (hichiriki)
Takeshi Sasamoto (ryūteki)
Columbia Gagaku Instrumental Ensemble of New York
Related event: February 20, 2010
Music from Japan presents Sukeyasu Shiba’s Gagaku Universe

Performance: Japanese Music of the Edo Period
2009-10-08
Music for shamisen, koto and shakuhachi with Yoko Hiraoka and Ralph Samuelson

Columbia University Gagaku Instrumental Ensemble Concert 雅楽鑚仰コンサート 京都・奈良 尼門跡寺院開山・中興の皇女尼僧に奏でる
2009-06-07 18:15 - 20:00 | Kyu Tokyo Ongaku Gakko Sougakudo, 8-43 Ueno Park, Taito ku, Tokyo, 110-0007, Japan
Gagaku Concert in conjunction with the exhibition
Ticket
1,000 Japanese yen
(free of charge with a ticket to the exhibition)
For more information please contact Chūsei Nihon (+81-75-212-1206)
Peformed by:

Columbia Gagaku Instrumental Ensemble of New York
Takeshi Sasamoto
Mayumi Miyata
Hitomi Nakamura
Kunitachi College of Music Students & Graduates

Sponsored by:

Toshiba International Foundation (Tokyo)

Supporters:

Musashino Instrument Otd. (Tokyo)
International Foundation for Arts and Culture (Tokyo)
Izutsu, Inc. (Kyoto)
Catherine Hazlett Memorial Fund (Chicago)
Sumitomo Corporation of America Foundation (New York)

Special Cooperation:

Japan Foundation

The Imperial Buddhist Convents: Their World and Culture「尼門跡寺院の世界」展
2009-04-14 - 2009-06-14 | The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts, 12-8 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo, 110-8714, Japan
An Exhibition in celebration of the Imperial Buddhist Convents of Japan
Come to Tokyo and join us in 2009 in celebrating the 1000-year history of Japan’s Imperial Buddhist Convents and the Empresses, Princesses, and Imperial Nuns who led them. We are honoring these eminent women in an unprecedented exhibition of 200 treasures recreating their worlds and their convents.
A Hidden Heritage Treasures of Japanese Imperial Convents
Organized by:
Medieval Japanese Studies Institute (Kyoto)
Tokyo University of the Arts
Sponsored by:

Sankei Newspaper (Tokyo)

Supported by:

World Monuments Fund (New York)
Foundation for Cultural Heritage and Art Research (Tokyo)
Tiffany & Co. (New York and Tokyo)
Canon
Others

The Imperial Buddhist Convents (ama monzeki) are an important heritage not only of Japan but also of the world. Focusing on the venerable nuns who founded the Imperial Buddhist Convents and those who revived these institutions at key junctures over the centuries, this exhibition traces their histories and introduces their elegant world and special culture. Giving attention to the uniqueness of each of the 13 remaining convents, the exhibition also hopes to raise awareness within and beyond Japan for the need to protect these cultural treasures for future generations.
Other events are being planned in conjunction with the Exhibition that include a Concert of Sacred Gagaku Music by the Columbia Gagaku Instrumental Ensemble of New York.
For future updates see: www.chusei-nihon.net
Curated by

Patricia Fister, Medieval Japanese Studies Institute, International Research Center for Japanese Studies
Monica Bethe, Medieval Japanese Studies Institute, Ōtani University
Miki Hanabusa, Medieval Japanese Studies Institute
Masato Satsuma, Tokyo University of the Arts
Hiroko Yokomizo, Tokyo University of the Arts
Ryō Furuta, Tokyo University of the Arts

Japanese Sacred Court Music and Ancient Soundscapes Reborn
2009-02-12 | Rotunda Gallery, Low Library, 116th Street and Broadway, New York, NY, United States

American Bluegrass Meets Japanese Gagaku
2008-12-04 20:00 | 301 Philosophy Hall, 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, United States

Student and Composer Workshops for Gagaku
2008-10-08 | Japan Society, 333 E 47th St, New York, NY, 10017, United States

Ancient Soundscapes: New Echoes, A Symposium and Musicale
2008-03-13 17:00 - 21:00 | Casa Italiana, 1161 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY, United States
On the Occasion of its 40th Anniversary
the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies
Columbia University, New York City
will presentAncient Soundscapes: New Echoes
A Symposium and Musicale
celebrating
Composer Toshi Ichiyanagi and his Ensemble Origin
“New Music on Reborn Ancient Eurasian Instruments”
Sponsored by:
Ensemble Origin 2008 Tour
Sennen no Hibiki (A Millennium of Resonance)
In cooperation with:
The Center for Ethnomusicology
The Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture
The Shōsōin Repository in Nara, Japan contains the world’s most precious collection of ancient Asian musical instruments, collected and loved by Japanese Emperor Shōmu and donated as offerings to the Buddha by Empress Kōmyō at his death in 756.
Panelists will discuss (with use of visual and audio media) the cultural history of these instruments; review the process of reclaiming ancient instruments and scores from the Shōsōin as well as from archaeological sites across Asia and from paintings; and give an overview of restoration and reconstruction projects in Japan based on Shōsōin instruments and explain professional attempts to resurrect their original sound, aesthetic, spiritual and performance roles.
The eminent composer Toshi Ichiyanagi will share his ten-year experience with reconstructed ancient Asian instruments and will show the methods used to restore the kugo and hōkyō. Such instruments, as well as the shō, u, mei, hichiriki, and ōhichiriki, will also be played, and their potential for musicians and composers will be demonstrated.
Mr. Ichiyanagi will also explain the formation of his Ensemble Origin to play these instruments, its relation to ancient gagaku, its international character, and its use as a medium for new music.
A roundtable discussion on “New Music on Reborn Ancient Eurasian Instruments” by eminent modern composers who have composed for traditional Japanese instruments will follow, as well as questions from the audience.
The program will conclude with a musical Hors d’oeuvre where participating musicians (including Columbia students) will play an array of short pieces from gagaku, restored pieces, and Mr. Ichiyanagi’s own compositions, and others, to demonstrate the range of possibilities of these wonderful instruments and to whet the appetite of the symposium audience for the full Carnegie Zankel Hall Ensemble Origin concerts that follow on the next two days, March 14 and 15, 2008.
A celebratory reception will follow.

Ancient Soundscapes: Glories of the Japanese Music Heritage
2008-03-03 | Low Memorial Library Rotunda, 116th Street and Broadway, New York, NY, United States

Gagaku Workshop
2008-03-02 | 403 Kent Hall, 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, United States

Semester-End Recital - Fall 2007
2007-12-02 20:00 - 21:00 | Casa Italiana, 1161 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY, United States

Open Workshop for Musicians and Composers
2007-02-24 10:00 - 16:00 | 403 Kent Hall, 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, United States
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Open Workshop for Musicians and Composers (Beginners welcome)
Professional musicians, composers, as well as beginners will gain hands-on experience with gagaku instruments, guided by the visiting artists.
Prior registration is required for this event. Space will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration forms will be accepted until February 16.
Co-sponsored by the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Studies, as part of the of the “Ancient Soundscapes: New Echoes from Japan’s Musical Past” Program Series

Masterclass for Columbia University Gagaku Ensemble students
2007-02-23 16:00 - 18:00 | Columbia University, 116th St & Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, United States
Students in the Columbia University Gagaku Ensemble will receive individualized instruction in the performance of their chosen instruments.
