FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Contact: Susan Tams, Director of Editorial Services, (304) 746-2038
 

Marshall to Host Concert of Traditional Japanese Music

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - Masayo Ishigure, a visiting musician who plays the koto, will give a concert of traditional Japanese music at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 9 in room 133 of Smith Music Hall on Marshall University’s Huntington campus. Joining Ishigure on the program will be Dr. Wendell Dobbs, professor of flute at Marshall.

The koto is a variety of East Asian zither with 13 strings stretched over 13 moveable bridges. It is found in a number of traditional Japanese households, but now is not as popular as the piano in contemporary society. Therefore, this concert is a very special occasion, according to Dr. Natsuki Fukunaga Anderson, assistant professor and coordinator of the Japanese program at Marshall.

“This is an unusual opportunity for West Virginians to hear performances on this instrument,” Anderson said. “Musicians and those who are studying Japanese culture will be especially interested.”

Ishigure is from Gifu, Japan, and currently resides in New York. She has performed at a number of events all over the world, especially since arriving in the United States in 1992. She recorded music for the soundtrack of the movie “Memoirs of a Geisha” by John Williams in 2005 along with Itzhak Perlman, Yo Yo Ma, and others.

Dobbs joined the Marshall University faculty in 1985. He performs regularly in solo and chamber music settings, ranging from the Huntington Symphony Orchestra and the Ohio Valley Symphony (principal flute in both) to Blackbirds and Thrushes, a Celtic band.

Doors open at 7:30 for the concert, which is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by the Toyota Foundation of West Virginia, as well as the Center for International Programs and the Japan Club at Marshall, and was organized by the Japanese program in Marshall’s Department of Modern Languages and the Japan Club.

For further information, contact Anderson by e-mail at andersonn@marshall.edu, or by phone at (304) 696-3543.

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