Yumi Kurosawa plays the koto, a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument. She's slated to play during the Nov. 30 performance at the Touhill of Kammerraku with the Arianna String Quartet. (Photo by Yumi Kurosawa)
An upcoming concert at the University of Missouri–St. Louis will integrate Japanese classical instruments into the sounds of Western classical music.
Kyo-Shin-An Arts presents Kammerraku with the Arianna String Quartet, UMSL’s resident quartet, at 8 p.m. Nov. 30 at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.
Kammerraku is a collection of commissioned works for string quartet. As the program travels, KSA performs a concert featuring two or more works from the Kammerraku repertoire in combination with Western repertoire of their choice.
Despite obvious differences in form and sonority, the two traditions can be remarkably compatible; Japanese and Western classical music share adherence to structure, long histories of musical evolution and a significant range of distinct periods and styles.
The program will feature compositions by Daron Hagen, Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Moravec, James Nyoraku Schlefer and Somei Satoh. Guest artists slated to appear include Yumi Kurosawa, Yoko Reikano Kimura and James Nyoraku Schlefer.
The performance is sponsored by the Ei’ichi Shibusawa-Seigo Arai Professorship in Japanese Studies at UMSL, International Studies and Programs at UMSL, the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center and the Arianna String Quartet. Additional support was provided by the Regional Arts Commission and the Japan Foundation through the Performing Arts JAPAN program
