Gagaku is the ceremonial music of the imperial court and the major Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines of Japan, recognized by UNESCO as the oldest continuously performed orchestral music in the world. Gagaku has long been known for its ancient inter-Asian translocal nature and its rich vernacular traditions. It is less known that since the 1960s, composers all around the world, beginning in the US, have been writing new music for Gagaku instruments, either based on traditional techniques or as ways to explore new possibilities and develop a new musical language. Lish Lindsey (ryūteki), Thomas Piercy (hichiriki), and Fabio Rambelli (shō) perform works by Alan Hovhaness, John Cage, and more recent original pieces, as well as selections from the classical repertory. Join us for this beautiful and unexpected concert. Organized by Fabio Rambelli, International Shinto Foundation Professor of Shinto Studies, UCSB.

Guest bios:

Alicia “Lish” Lindsey (she/her) is the Gagaku Ensemble Director and the Japanese Instrumental Training Program Manager for The Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies at Columbia University (NYC). She began studying Gagaku (Japanese medieval court music) with Columbia University professors Sasaki Louise (retired), Sasaki Noriyuki (retired), and Fukui Yōichi through the Columbia Gagaku Instrumental Ensemble of NY with additional studies at Tenri Gagaku Music Society of New York. Lish had the opportunity to experience the history and culture surrounding Gagaku through observation and rehearsals with members of Ono-Gagaku Kai, Musicians of the Imperial Household, and students/faculty of Kunitachi College of Music in 2015, 2019, and 2022 (The Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies Mentor/Protégé Summer Initiative Program). While in Tokyo her ryūteki (dragon flute) studies were with Sasamoto Takeshi, Yagi Chiaki, Ōkubo Yasuo, and Echigo Minami and beginning Bugaku dance with Nakamura Hitomi. In addition to Columbia University, Lish teaches applied flute, directs/conducts flute choirs, and is an adjunct music lecturer at CUNY Brooklyn College (NYC), New Jersey City University, Wilkes University (PA), and Summer Music in Tuscany (Italy). lishlindsey.com imjs-jchi.org

Thomas Piercy, already a prominent figure in the contemporary classical world as a clarinet soloist, decided during a visit to Japan in 2012 to start the study of the hichiriki. The hichiriki, a traditional double-reed instrument used almost exclusively in Gagaku since the 12th century, has only very recently been used in contemporary music. He began his studies in the traditional manner as a student of world-renowned hichiriki player Hitomi Nakamura. Nakamura sensei plays both gagaku traditional music and contemporary classical (one of the few hichiriki players to do so). Under his teacher's guidance in Japan, within four months Piercy started to include pieces for hichiriki in his concerts. There is very little contemporary repertoire for the hichiriki, so he started having composers in Japan and around the world write him pieces. Piercy thought it important that this ancient instrument be played in contemporary settings and still maintain and respect its rich history. Since 2012, Piercy has composed several of his own pieces for hichiriki, as well as having had over 40 pieces composed for him for hichiriki, including pieces for hichiriki and electronics, hichiriki and kugo (Japanese harp), hichiriki and piano, and pieces for hichiriki and other traditional Japanese instruments (ryūteki, shō, shakuhachi, koto). He continues to compose new pieces and have new pieces composed for him as he continues to increase the repertoire of this historical and unique instrument. He and composer Masatora Goya received a 2020 commission grant from the New York State Council of the Arts for the world's second Concerto for Hichiriki and the first composed for a non-Japanese hichiriki player. Piercy has had the opportunity to work with the composers writing music for him and the hichiriki. The composers have ranged from 17 to 70 years of age. They come from all walks of life and experience: from university students to university professors; from self-taught composers to composers with PhDs; from emerging composers to composers that have won such prominent awards as the Takemitsu Prize, the Geneva Composition Prize, and the Grammy Award. A partial list of composers whose hichiriki works have been composed for and premiered by Thomas Piercy: 合屋正虎 Masatora Goya (five pieces for hichiriki including the Hichirki Concerto); 平山 智 Tomo Hirayama; 松本祐一 Yuichi Matsumoto;見澤ゆかり; Yukari Misawa 森田泰之進 Yasunoshin Morita; 大羽田 大輔 Daisuke Ohata; 清水チャートリー Chatori Shimizu; Alyssa Aska; Kanokpak Changwitchukarn; Yihan Chen; Melissa Grey; Zhihua Hu; Bin Li; David Loeb; Piyawat Louilarpprasert; Sandro Montalto; Luigi Morleo, and Edward Schocker. http://www.thomaspiercy.com/ http://www.thomaspiercy.com/hichiriki-3173131717.html http://www.tonadaproductions.com/tokyo-to-new-york-home.html

Fabio Rambelli is professor of Japanese religions and cultural history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he holds the International Shinto Foundation Chair in Shinto Studies. He is also the director of the UCSB Gagaku Project, which aims at promoting the knowledge of Gagaku. He is the author of several articles on Gagaku, and is currently working on a book project on the cultural history of this genre of music. Rambelli plays the shō, a bamboo mouth organ unique to Gagaku; he has studied with Maestro Bunno Hideaki, former director of the Gagaku orchestra at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, and with Naoyuki Manabe; both have performed in Santa Barbara in recent years. Rambelli has been exploring the possibility of a new kind of fusion music played on Gagaku instruments with a contemporary sensibility with his duo Neo Archē (with Rory Lindsay at the biwa lute). https://neoarche.bandcamp.com/ https://www.religion.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/fabio-rambelli/

UCSB Shinto Studies, Department of Religious Studies, Music Department, Manitou Foundation and Division of Humanities and Fine Arts, Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Global.

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