What we do

MICHIYO YAGI TALON Hyper-Koto Ensemble Vol.4

  • Organization : Michiyo Yagi
  • Section : Artistic and creative activity in Tokyo
  • Type of Grant Program : Single Individual
  • Art Forms : Japanese Traditional Art

Outline

This concert by the one-of-a-kind koto ensemble Michiyo Yagi’s Talon showcased five different types of the instrument (13-, 17-, 18-, 21-, and 25-string) plus vocals and electronics. On several compositions the koto players Michiyo Yagi, Maki Isogai, Hiroko Takahashi, and Michie Kobayashi were joined by the expressive and iconoclastic clarinettist Keiko Komori in an attempt to expand the possibilities of Japanese music. In addition to the Yagi
compositions “Zazanza” (Wind Through Pines), “Wasabi Juice”, “Mizuhanada”(Water Line), “Momonomi” (Peach Fruit), and “Amatsukaze” (Heavenly Wind)
[revised version], the audience heard two world premieres of newly commissioned works: “Glimpses of Air” by the Polish clarinettist and composer Waclaw Zimpel, and “Breeze Through Azabu” by the American Tuba player and composer William Roper. Showcasing the koto from multiple
Perspectives, this concert combined Eastern and Western music in fresh and compelling ways.

Profile

MICHIYO YAGI
(13-,17-,18-, & 21-string kotos, electronics, voice)
Michiyo Yagi apprenticed with the late Tadao Sawai and Kazue Sawai, and graduated from the NHK Professional Training School for Traditional Musicians. During her subsequent tenure as Visiting Professor of Music at Wesleyan University in Connecticut she premiered numerous compositions for koto and came under the influence of maverick American composers such as John Cage, Christian Wolff, Conlon Nancarrow, and John Zorn. Yagi has since been active as a performer and composer, collaborating with many of the world’s foremost improvisers, working as a session musician for J-Pop artists, leading her own groups, and releasing numerous recordings incorporating traditional Japanese music, avant-garde jazz, and progressive
rock.

Contact

Mark E. Rappaport
Koto player、Composer
Michiyo Yagi
yagiquery@yahoo.co.jp

Venues

Koendori Classics, Shibuya City, Tokyo0