Four Seasons in NY: Gems of Japanese Music

CRS & Mar Creation, Inc. invite you to discover traditional Japanese music by the acclaimed koto and shamisen player Yoko Reikano Kimura, offered together with an exclusive taste of beautiful Japanese seasonal sweets prepared by Rin NYC. The next concert will take place on Saturday, January 28, 2017 at 4 pm at CRS. Tickets are $25 and include delicious wagashi (sweets). Seating is limited and advanced purchased (online, by phone 212-677-8621, or in person at CRS) is encouraged.

“…Yoko Reikano Kimura, playing the shamisen and singing, is superb….” — New York Times

“…Kimura’s performance on the solo shamisen was quite stunning. An elegant refined presence perfectly poised, she played with precision, beauty and the utmost confidence….” — San Francisco Examiner

This will be the second in a seasonal series of music concerts called Four Seasons in New York — Gems of Japanese Music 2016 – 17. After many centuries, the brilliance of traditional Japanese music is still being passed on to the present day. Come and experience the sounds of koto and shamisen and enjoy the taste of the four seasons here in New York. This concert series will feature each season’s representative traditional works along with the colorful and delicate Japanese style confectionaries. Subsequent concerts in the series will be held on April 22 and August 5 at 4 pm.

Each season is expressed through ingredients. Spring traditionally begins with sakura (cherry blossoms), broccoli rabe, strawberries and raspberries, followed by elderflower, rose, edamame and sansho (Japanese pepper) in summer. As autumn approaches we’ll pick chrysanthemum, apples, grapes, chestnuts and hazelnuts; and yuzu and kumquats in winter…. Even within one season, the taste and the form change gradually from hashiri through nagori.

mochi Rin / Bite-sized mochi dessert made with organic bean paste, seasonally fruits and flowers in NY.

We present a new type of mochi that doesn’t quite exist in Japan, by infusing New York’s locally-sourced ingredients into Japan’s popular traditional dessert —the stuffed mochi rounds, such as daifuku and sakura-mochi — and mixing in rin, the element of restrained grace.  http://www.rin-nyc.com

More about Yoko

As a frequent soloist and collaborator, Japanese born Koto/Shamisen performer and singer Yoko Reikano Kimura has performed in NYC, Chicago, Tokyo, Kyoto and many other cities, featuring a wide-ranging repertoire from classical Japanese music to improvisational pieces. Yoko has won numerous awards including the First Prize at the prestigious 10th Kenjun Memorial National Koto Competition as the first Yamada style koto performer. She received the First Prize at the 4th Great Wall International Music Competition and the Osaka Chinese Counsel Award and won the Japanese music audition for NHK-FM radio and her solo shamisen performance was broadcasted nationally. Since then she has performed numerous koto and shamisen pieces for the radio and regularly toured internationally.

Since Yoko moved to the US in 2010, her mission has been to promote Japanese music to American audiences. As part of this mission she is performing and giving workshops at various venues, such as the UN, Merkin, Bargemusic, Roulette, Princeton University, Japan Society, Harvard University, Princeton University, the New England Conservatory, the University of Chicago, Duke University and many others. http://www.yamadaryu.com/reikano/

As part of the award-winning Duo Yumeno, she has just released the album Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon:  The Music of Marty Regan. Listen and purchase here.