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2007-2008 Japanese Gagaku World Music Performance Ensemble

Biwa

The Columbia University Department of Music, the Center for Ethnomusicology, the Music Performance Program, & the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies are pleased to announce our 2007-2008 Japanese Gagaku World Music Performance Ensemble.
MUSI v1625 Section 002
Call number: 43055 (1 pt.)
Instructors: Louise Sasaki, Nori Sasaki, & Yoichi Fukui (Tenri Institute)
Day/Time: Tuesdays 5-7pm
Location: 620 Dodge Hall
Gagaku is the oldest surviving musical genre in Japan, with a history of more than one thousand years. It includes both instrumental (kangen) as well as dance (bugaku) elements. Since earliest times it has been associated with Japanese imperial court rituals, yet it contains foreign elements as well as Japanese indigenous ones and has experienced various transformations over the centuries. Today, Gagaku is practiced in both traditional court styles and in many fusion styles, using both ancient and modern repertoire.

For the second year, Columbia University’s Department of Music, Music Performance Program, Center for Ethnomusicology, and Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies are pleased to offer students the experience of learning this musical tradition from expert performers Nori and Louise Sasaki and Yoichi Fukui of New York’s Tenri Gagaku Society. Students will practice and perform on high quality instruments (shö, hichiriki, ryutki, and biwa). As we did last year, we expect to be able to send a few members of the ensemble to Japan for intensive study with master performers in the summer of 2008.


Important Information
All interested students MUST come to the first meeting of the ensemble on Sept. 11, 2007 at 5pm in 620 Dodge Hall. Some musical background (playing a wind instrument, especially) and/or prior knowledge of Japanese culture are helpful, but not prerequisites. We will try to accommodate all interested students, but have limited space and instruments and may need to limit the ensemble’s size. Also please note that regular attendance at each weekly meeting is expected and required. the ensemble will give several public performances throughout the year. Instruments will be available for students to take home for practice. The ensemble will continue through the spring semester, and membership for the full year is expected if possible.

This program is made possible by the generous support of the following sponsors:
The Center for Ethnomusicology,The Department of Music, The Music Performance Program, The Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies, East Asian Languages and Cultures Department, Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture, Asuian Humanities Program, Tenri Institute, (NYC), Medieval Japanese Studies Foundation, Asian Cultural Council of New York, Toshiba International Foundation, Catherine Hazlett Memorial Fund, International Foundation for Arts and Culture, Tides Foundation, Mushashino Instrument Ltd., International Shinto Foundation, and Izutsu, Inc.