CRS & Mar Creation, Inc. invite you to discover traditional Japanese music by the acclaimed koto and shamisen player and singer Yoko Reikano Kimura, followed by a rare tea ceremony by Souheki Mori (tea master at Tea Whisk and Setsugekka). After the ceremony, matcha tea by Setsugekka and beautiful Japanese seasonal sweets prepared by Rin NYC will be served. 

The next concert will take place on Friday, January 19, 2018 at 7 pm at CRS. Tickets are $40 and include the tea ceremony and delicious wagashi (sweets). Seating is limited and advanced purchased (online, by phone 212-677-8621, or in person at CRS) is encouraged.

Kimura will perform four classical pieces, including Chanoyu Ondo – The Lead of Tea Ceremony, while Mori leads Shin-no-gyou daisu temae (真之行台子点前), one of the most formal and elaborate styles of tea serving that is very rarely shared in New York. There will also be a surprise musical guest!

MUSICAL PROGRAM

Kokin-sho for solo jiuta sangen (composed by Seiho Kineya)
Rokudan no Shirabe (composed by Yatsuhashi-kengyo)
Chanoyu Ondo – The Lead of Tea Ceremony – (composed by Yaezaki-kengyo)
Spring Sea (composed by Michio Miyagi)

“…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

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.

This will be the second concert of Volume 3 of this seasonal series of music concerts called Four Seasons in New York — Gems of Japanese Music. The subsequent concerts in this season are planned for April 1 and Aug 12 of 2018 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 Reikano Kimura

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  released the album Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon:  The Music of Marty Regan. Listen and purchase here.

More about Tae Master Souheki Mori

Souheki Mori was born in Chiba, Japan. She studied under the Japan Association of the Tea Ceremony and was certified as a Japanese tea ceremony master in 2003, and holds the title of Jufuku-an. She established Tea-Whisk Inc in New York to introduce the beauty of the Japanese Tea Ceremony with Junya Mori. Mr. and Mrs. Mori believe that within the tea ceremony is a force invisible and precious, and that one can achieve spiritual growth through practicing tea. They have hosted tea ceremony at numerous places, such as The American Museum of Natural History, Japan week NYC, Harney & Sons, Japanese sushi kaiseki restaurant KOSAKA and many others around Tri State.