“Sankyokuitonoshirabe”
“Funabenkei” 1
“Funabenkei” 2
A concert of nagauta, which was established as musical accompaniment to kabuki and is still evolving today. It was the first concert held in celebration of nagauta shamisen performer Imafuji Chotatsuro, and featured two pieces, “Sankyokuitonoshirabe” and “Funabenkei.” “Sankyokuitonoshirabe” was jointly performed by three generations of the same family, Imafuji Hisayuki, Imafuji Chotatsuro and Imafuji Tatsujuro. The lead (tate-uta) for “Funabenkei” was performed by mainstay top-class performer Kineya Mitsuya, with hayashi music by Tosya Rosen and Nakagawa Yoshio, two seasoned veterans with numerous performances under their belts. It was a performance in which the musicians and listeners shared and experienced firsthand the true thrill of nagauta together as one.
Imafuji Chotatsuro
Born in Tokyo in 1969 as the eldest son of nagauta singer Imafuji Hisayuki. In 1979 he began studying under Living National Treasure Imafuji Ayako. He was granted the name Imafuji Chotatsuro in 1985. In 1991 he graduated from the Faculty of Music, Tokyo University of The Arts where he majored in nagauta
shamisen. While still a student, he studied under Kikuoka Hiroaki, Tajima Keiko and Ajimi Toru. Since then, he has performed at many different venues including Kabukiza, the National Theatre, and Kioi Hall. Imafuji received the Japanese Traditional Culture Promotion Award in 2005. He is also a composer, with many compositions under his belt including “Shishio” (performed in 2016 at a kabuki spectacle in Las Vegas with Ichikawa Somegoro); “Tanoshiya Kabuki”(the opening song for the ongoing NHK Educational children’s TV show “Nihongo de Asobo” (Let’s Play with Japanese); and “Nakamura Kankuro.”He is a member of Goinkai, SOHO21 and GenPouRen. Part-time lecturer at Kunitachi College of Music.
Chotatsuro Imafuji
Shamisen player,composer
chotatsuro@gmail.com
Kioi Small Hall, Chiyoda City, Tokyo
