News Release
September 2003
(Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)—The unique sound
of traditional Japanese music will fill Foy Concert Hall when Ensemble
East performs at Moravian
College on September 24 at 7:30 p.m. Ensemble East is a traditional
Japanese music ensemble of Koto, Shamisen, Shakuhachi and Voice. From
tales of the Geisha, to the poetry of nature, the stories of old Japan
unfold in this rich musical tradition. Modern solo and ensemble music
bring contemporary relevance to their programs. Concerts are enlivened
with text translations, historical background, and program notes.
Masayo Ishigure, a native of Japan, began studying
the Koto at a very early age and later studied under the modern school
of Koto music of
Tadao and Kazue Sawai. She graduated from Takasaki Junior College Music
Department in 1987. She was awarded the honor of participating in the
33rd "Ikusaikai" program sponsored by NHK (Japanese Broadcasting
Corporation), a program to foster aspiring artists in traditional Japanese
music, which she completed in 1988.
Her koto performances since coming to the United
States have included various venues in the New York area such as
The Metropolitan Museum
of Art, The Museum of Natural History, Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie
Hall, Merkin Hall, The Japan Society, and several Universities including
Harvard and Yale. In March, 1999, Ms. Ishigure gave a recital of new
and traditional koto and shamisen music at New York's Greenwich House
School of Music. She has also performed in France, Hawaii, with the
San Diego Symphony Orchestra, and several other concerts throughout
the United States. In December, 2002 she made her BAM Cafe debut with
2 nights of duo concerts featuring shakuhachi flute and koto. In January
2003 Ishigure performed "Midare," a traditional koto piece
with NYC Ballet Principal Dancer Mr. Peter Boal concerts at the Guggenheim
Museum.
Called "A Master of the Shakuhachi" by The New York Times,
James Nyoraku Schlefer is a leading performer and teacher of shakuhachi
in New York City. He received the Dai-Shi-Han or Grand Master's Certificate
in 2001, one of only a handful of non-Japanese to receive this high
level award. In Japan he has worked with Aoki Reibo, Yokoyama Katsuya,
Yoshio Kurahashi, Yoshinobu Taniguchi, and Mitsuhashi Kifu, and his
primary teacher in New York was Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin. He holds a
Master's degree in Western flute and musicology from Queens College
and currently teaches music history courses at the City University
of New York. He has performed at Lincoln Center, Tanglewood’s
Ozawa Hall, BAM, the World Financial Center, the Metropolitan, Brooklyn,
Philadelphia Museums, and the Knitting Factory. Schlefer has three
solo recordings, Wind Heart (which travels 120,000,000 miles aboard
the Space Station MIR), Solstice Spirit (1998) and Flare Up (2002).
His music has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered.
General Admission is $12, $6 for senior citizens, students, and children
12 and under. Foy Concert Hall is located on the Hurd Campus in downtown
Historic Bethlehem at Main and Church Streets. For tickets and more
information, call610-861-1650 or email to music@moravian.edu.
