Hibiki Ichikawa and Guests: An Evening Of Tsugaru Shamisen And Japanese Folk Songs

An entertaining evening of Japanese folk music!

Date: Tuesday, 14 May 2013 7:00 – 8:00 pm, preceded by a drinks reception from 6:00pm
Venue: Daiwa Foundation Japan House 13/14 Cornwall Terrace  London NW1 4QP MAP   Nearest Station: Baker Street

Admission Free, booking essential

The Daiwa Foundation is pleased to present an evening concert of Japanese folk music. The only professional Tsugaru Shamisen player resident in the UK, Hibiki Ichikawa from Ishikawa Prefecture will perform traditional Japanese folk songs along with his own original compositions. The Tsugaru Shamisen is a stringed instrument which originated in Aomori,  Northern Japan and is derived from the Okinawan sanshin but is larger and has a distinct rhythmical, percussive sound. Improvisation is characteristic of the Tsugaru Shamisen playing style. Hibiki will also introduce his instrument, its history and the origin of the songs he plays. Vocal accompaniment will come from Akari Mochizuki, an enka and  minyou singer, and Hibiki will also be joined by one of his students to play a duet.  This event is a rare opportunity to encounter Japanese folk music in the UK.

 

Hibiki Ichikawa and Akari Mochizuki

 

Hibiki Ichikawa was  born in Kanazawa in 1980. He started playing the standard Shamisen at the age of 20, and when he discovered the richness and variety of sound of the Tsugaru Shamisen, he took it up just a year later, training under Master Akihiro Ichikawa. In 2005, he joined the group Cazicazi, playing traditional Japanese music with indie rock. He has performed Tsugaru Shamisen live in Kanazawa, across Japan and internationally in Poland and South Korea. Hibiki moved to London in 2010 to introduce Tsugaru Shamisen to an international audience. He has been performing at a number of events and concerts such as WOMAD and JAPAN MATSURI in the UK. He began teaching Tsugaru Shamisen in Kanazawa in 2008 and he now teaches it to students across London

Akari Mochizuki started singing Enka at the age of three. She studied drama in Cambridge and contemporary music in London and started her career as a professional singer in 2009. Since then, she has performed at many occasions such as WOMAD 2010, HYPER JAPAN and Japan Matsuri 2009, 2010 & 2012. She had her first professional release as a singer in 2013.

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Tsugaru-shamisen, Minyo, and Enka Dinner Concert At So Restaurant London