251 JAPAN CONCERT COMBINES BEST OF ANCIENT AND MODERN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 3, 2007
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

Internationally Renowned “Music from Japan” Comes to MTSU

(MURFREESBORO) – The Japan-U.S. Program of MTSU will present the Junko Tahara Biwa Ensemble at this year’s Music from Japan concert at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, in Hinton Hall in the Wright Music Building.
To enhance understanding and appreciation of Japanese music and culture, the musicians will discuss their art and demonstrate their instruments for a group of Honors College students at 11 a.m. on the day of the concert in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. Because lunch will be served afterwards, availability is limited. To register in advance, students should contact Georgia Dennis at 615-898-5645 or gdennis@mtsu.edu.
Dr. Scott Carnicom, associate dean of the Honors College, says administrators were “delighted” to seize the chance to participate in this kind of cultural enlightenment.
“The Honors College does try to cultivate a small but diverse population of students seeking scholarly opportunities,” Carnicom says.
Tahara has performed extensively in Japan and at major venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in the United States. Her instrument, the biwa, is a fretted lute frequently used in the performance of traditional Japanese music. She will be accompanied by Kohei Nishikawa on nohkan and shinobue (types of flutes), and Akikuni Takahashi and Tsuyoshi Abe on narimono (percussion).
A highlight of the concert will be passages from The Tale of Heike, a medieval literary work. It tells the story of a struggle between rival Japanese clans in the 12th century and combines biwa music with narration.
In addition, a newly commissioned work by internationally acclaimed composer Masataka Matsuo will be performed. Matsuo, who teaches at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music and the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, has been commissioned by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Theater of Japan, and Pro Musica Nipponica, among other patrons of the arts.
Music from Japan (MFJ) bills itself as “the leading presenter of Japanese contemporary and traditional music in the United States and the world.” The group has presented nearly 400 works, including 51 world premieres and 39 commissions, over the course of 30 years. “MFJ is a very prestigious non-profit organization chaired by the former Japanese ambassador to the United Nations, who is currently a judge at the International Court of
Justice,” Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito, director of the Japan-U.S. Program. “It has received
numerous awards, including a top Imperial Award, and brought a variety of the best music to North America … for 30 years. Usually, it visits only four or five cities,
including New York and Washington, D.C.”
The Murfreesboro concert is made possible with generous financial support from Toshiba and Bridgestone/Firestone and technical support from the McLean School of Music.
The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. To obtain tickets, faculty and students may stop by the Japan-U.S. Program Office in Room N340 of the Business Aerospace Building. To get tickets by mail, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Japan-U.S. Program, Box 167, MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN 37132. For more information, call 615-898-2229 or write to japan@mtsu.edu.

--30—

ATTENTION, MEDIA: To obtain a color jpeg photo of Junko Tahara, please contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.