In 1997 I was commissioned by the city of Kanazawa to compose a piece for 2 Geisha musicians and me for the centennial celebration of Izumi Kyoka, a famous author born in Kanazawa. The instrumentation was percussion, Japanese flute and koto. I chose his story Ryutandan and composed a 30 minute piece. For five months of rigorous, exhausting and interesting rehearsals, I was allowed into the world of the Geisha.
Our farmhouse in the foothills of the Japanese Alps. After living in the city for 10 years, we bought this house and spent the next 14 years fixing it up and being part of the life in a farming village.
Playing the alto recorder with my koto teacher, Michiko Itoh at an outdoor festival in Ishikawa Prefecture
Premiering the music from my CD Armchair Magician music.apple.com/us/album/armchair-magician/138712118 with storytelling by Patty Willis in Kanazawa
Patty Willis wrote When the Woman Who Loved Insects Hid, I composed the music for koto and shakuhachi. It was performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and on Noh stages in Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe and Kanazawa.
A later version of When the Woman Who Loved Insects Hid in Japanese. I composed new music for this version using the larger "20-string" koto
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