[Program]

Kimura will perform "Shunkyō for two shamisens" by Seihō Kineya, "Shōjō no Tsuru -Crane on the Pine Tree -" by Manwa Yamato and a contemporary piece, "Mutsura-boshi - Pleiades -" with special guest, Hikaru Tamaki (cello). For this online concert, Kimura will perform both the main and the accompaniment parts.

[About the concert series]

New York’s music scene reflects the diverse and vibrant culture of the city. Kimura began this concert series in the fall of 2015. This concert series has been co-hosted by Center for Remembering and Sharing (CRS) , and supported by Mar Creation, Inc. As a Japanese instrumentalist, she hopes to introduce the brilliance of traditional Japanese music, which is still being passed on to future generations after many centuries. Starting with the 2018-19 season, the series has featured contemporary pieces composed by living composers as well. Since the first concert, over 45 works from the classical repertoire have been introduced in the concert series. Please come and experience the sounds of koto and shamisen and enjoy the taste of the four seasons here in New York!

[About the performer]

YOKO REIKANO KIMURA (koto and shamisen) has concertized in about 20 countries around the world based in New York and Japan. The New York Times described her shamisen playing and singing as “superb.” As a koto soloist, Kimura has performed Daron Hagen’s Koto Concerto: Genji with the Wintergreen Music Festival Orchestra conducted by Mei-Ann Chen and several string quartets. Her performances have featured at renowned opera and theater works, such as Michi Wiancko’s Murasaki’s Moon, Piestro Mascagni’s Iris by American Symphony Orchestra, Yokoshi Yasuko’s Bell, Basil Twist’s Dogugaeshi, and Heiner Goebbels’ Hashirigaki. Kimura has performed at prestigious venues such as Warsaw Autumn Festival, Israel Festival, Nova Arts in Bordeaux, John F. Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Museum, United Nation, Japan Society, and Asia Society Texas Center. Her performances have broadcasted on NPR’s Performance Today, NHK-FM’s Hogaku no Hitotoki, and WKCR. Kimura is a founder of Duo YUMENO, with cellist Hikaru Tamaki. The duo received the Kyoto Aoyama Barock Saal Award in 2015, and featured at Chamber Music America’s 2016 National Conference. The duo held its tenth anniversary recital at Carnegie Hall in 2019. Her awards include the First prize at the prestigious 10th Kenjun Memorial National Koto Competition, the First prize at the 4th Great Wall International Music Competition, and a scholarship from the Agency of Cultural Affairs of Japan. Following her studies at the Tokyo University of the Arts, she studied at Institute of Traditional Japanese Music, an affiliate of Senzoku Gakuen College of Music in Japan, where she was a faculty member until 2010. Her teachers include Kono Kameyama, Akiko Nishigata and Senko Yamabiko, a Living National Treasure.

Yoko Reikano Kimura's website

Four Seasons in New York - Gems of Japanese Music - vol. 19