A Soh Daiko performance makes Japanese taiko drumming as exciting to see as it is to hear, with high-octane rhythms brought to life through vibrant choreography and athleticism. The ensemble layers in a wide-ranging world of sounds to complement the powerful drumming and the playing of bamboo flutes, brass bells, conch shells, gongs, and more. Experience taiko drumming like you never have before.

This event at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (LPAC) is part of Carnegie Hall Citywide, an initiative through which Carnegie Hall partners with local community organizations to present free concerts that are sensational celebrations of sounds from across the country and around the globe. To RSVP to see Soh Daiko, please visit LPAC’s website.

About Soh Daiko

Established in 1979, Soh Daiko is the first taiko drumming group on the East Coast of the United States. The band uses a variety of instruments, including bamboo flutes, brass bells, conch shells, gongs, African shekere in its performance of a variety of songs and pieces that are adapted from other musical styles.

Soh Daiko's performance is more than just playing drums; it also incorporates dynamic movement and choreography, demonstrating physical strength, endurance, and vitality, all of which contribute to the excitement of the taiko performance.

To learn more, please visit Soh Daiko’s website.

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Susan McCormac 4/4/23 Susan McCormac 4/4/23

Masayo Ishigure: Koto, Bass Koto, and Shamisen

Thursday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall – 57th Street and 7th Avenue

Admission: $40 to $50

Masayo Ishigure will perform a koto and shamisen recital to commemorate the 30th anniversary of her professional career in the United States. This program offers a glimpse into the history of Japanese music and can be enjoyed by a wide range of audiences.

Performers

Masayo Ishigure: Koto, Bass Koto, and Shamisen
Zac Zinger: Shakuhachi
Nathan Koci: Piano
Noriko Tsuboi: Koto and Bass Koto
Miyabi Koto and Shamisen Ensemble

Program

Tadao Sawai – "Sakura Sakura"
Tadao Sawai – "Ginga" ("Galaxy")
Zac Zinger – Untitled
Hikaru Sawai – "Gin-yu-ka" ("Minstrel Song")
Hideaki Matsumoto – "Chizuru / Whereabouts of the Wind"
Tadao Sawai – "Flying like a Bird"

To purchase tickets, please visit Carnegie Hall’s website.

About Masayo Ishigure

Masayo Ishigure began playing koto and jiuta shamisen at the age of five in Gifu Prefecture and later studied under Tadao and Kazue Sawai. In 1986 she became a special research student at Sawai Koto Institute. She moved to the U.S. in 1992 to teach koto and shamisen classes at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

In 2005 she was invited to play the koto on the soundtrack of the Academy Award-winning film Memoirs of a Geisha with music by John Williams, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and others. Newsweek nominated Ishigure in the magazine’s 2007 issue of 100 Japanese People the World Respects. Late prime minister Shinzo Abe recognized her as one of five Japanese women active in New York. Ishigure taught koto classes at Columbia University from 2010 through 2021, and she gives private lessons in New York City.

About the Miyabi Koto and Shamisen Ensemble

Classical and contemporary Japanese koto and shamisen ensemble “MIYABI” was founded in 1996 in New York City as a branch of the Sawai Koto Academy of Japan. Led by Ishigure, repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary koto music. The founder of Sawai Koto Academy, Tadao Sawai, is known as one of the greatest players and composers of koto music in the 20th century.

The ensemble dedicates itself to playing Tadao Sawai‘s koto music. It has played many concerts in the New York Metropolitan area, the eastern United States, Hawaii, Australia, South America, and Japan.

Soh Daiko Performance at LPAC

Carnegie Hall Citywide: Soh Daiko