News Release
Famed Japanese Composers to Perform for Pacific
(September 7, 2007) -
World-renowned composer Joji Yuasa, multi-media composer Kiyoshi Furukawa and Japanese flautist Yoshio Kurahashi are among five Japanese artists who will participate in University of the Pacific’s first ever Japanese Festival, being held Oct. 20 through Oct. 26 on the Stockton campus.
In addition to the lectures and concerts, there also will be a Manga contest, an art gallery show, a tea ceremony and a discussion of Japanese films.
“My colleagues Robert Coburn, Jaroslaw Kapuscinski and I are pleased with this opportunity to share our passion for Japanese culture with the University and the Stockton community”, said Conservatory professor Francois Rose. “We hope the festival will help others gain an appreciation of Japanese culture.”
Kurahashi, who has played the shakuhachi – a bamboo Japanese flute - since childhood, is one of the best players in the world and has performed around the world. He currently is director of the Mujuan Shakuhachi School. He will demonstration shakuhachi techniques and will give a concert of traditional Japanese music during his visit.
Both Yuasa and Furukawa will perform and give lectures during the Festival. Yuasa is one of Japan’s leading composers. He has been commissioned by several prestigious ensembles around the world and his music has received several distinguished international awards. He currently is a professor at the Nihon University College of Arts and at Tokyo College of Music.
Furukawa is a celebrated multi-media composer. He studied composition at the Musikhochschule in Berlin and Hamburg. He also has been associated with Stanford, the Center for Art and Media Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany, and the Music Media Lab in Hamburg. He currently is an associate professor at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.
The Manga contest will be open to all students in grades K-12 and any resident of California age 18 or older. TokyoPop, one of the leading publishers of Manga books, and FanimeCon, the largest Japanese Anime convention organizer in the U.S., will donate contest prizes, including three passes to the annual FanimeCon conference in San Jose. In addition, Hope Donovan, a TokyoPop editor, will join the contest’s panel of judges. The public also will be invited to judge the winners by voting online in an “American Idol” type format.
The schedule of events is as follows:
Month of October
* Exhibition of Japanese Prints in the Reynolds Gallery
October 20th
* 1:30 p.m. Award Ceremony for the University of the Pacific Japanese Festival Manga/Anime Drawing Contest – William Knox Holt Memorial Library, Community Room
October 23rd
* 12 p.m. – Presentation: “Understanding Japanese Culture” – Recital Hall
October 24th
* 2 p.m. – Shakuhachi presentation by Master Kurahashi – Recital Hall
* 7:30 p.m. – Traditional Japanese music featuring the shakuhachi master Yoshio Kurahashi, koto player Yoko Hirano-Itatani and the sangen player Ayako Kurahashi – Faye Spanos Concert Hall.
General admission $8, seniors $4, free to students with ID
October 25th
* 12 p.m. – Lecture on the films of Kurosawa – WPC-140
* 6 p.m. – Reception – Reynolds Gallery
* 8 p.m. – Movie, “Throne of Blood” – Pacific Theater
General admission $5, faculty, staff $3, free to students with ID
Free admission for the first forty people to arrive
October 26th
* 2:00 p.m. – Presentations by Joji Yuasa and Kiyoshi Furukawa – Recital Hall
* 3:30 p.m. – Tea Ceremony hosted by the Tea Master Mrs. Aiko Mikami - William Knox Holt Memorial Library, Community Room. Limited seating, reservations: sdelorenzo@pacific.edu
* 7:30 p.m. – New Japanese music by Joji Yuasa and Kiyoshi Furukawa, featuring among others: Frank Wiens, piano, Patricia Shands, clarinet, Mat Krejci, flute, Nina Flyer, cello, Igor Velligan, violin, Sonia Leong, piano, Margaret Perry, piano – Faye Spanos Concert Hall
General admission $8, seniors $4, free to students with ID
November 2nd
* 2:00 p.m. – Lecture by Julie Otsuka, author of “When the Emperor was divine”-Pacific Theater
All of the above events are free, except when indicated otherwise.
For more information, call the Conservatory of Music at 209.946.2415 or visit go.pacific.edu/JapaneseFestival or library.pacific.edu/contest.
