Tokyo to New York Concerts Continue at SPECTRUM Tonight

"Tokyo to New York" concert series continues at SPECTRUM tonight, Oct. 9th at 8:45pm. The concert features several premiers composed for critically acclaimed clarinetist and hichiriki player Thomas Piercy by Tokyo- and NYC-based composers. The world-renowned shakuhachi player Christopher Yohmei Blasdel is travelling from Tokyo to join Mr. Piercy in the concert. Also joining Piercy in the concert is Tomoko Sugawara playing kugo (the ancient Japanese harp), and pianist Judith Olson.

The music - in a wide variety of contemporary styles - includes world premiers by Kei Daigo (2014 Takemitsu Award), Shoichi Yabuta (2014 Takamatsu International Piano Competition commission), Miho Sasaki, and Jacob Goodman. Other pieces on the program include United State premiers by Japanese composers Ippei Inoue and Tetsuya Yamamoto, and works by Masatora Goya, Kikuko Massumoto, Miki Minoru, Ned Rothenberg, Edward Schocker, and one of Japan's leading avant-garde composers, Hifumi Shimoyama.

Since 2005, Thomas Piercy has lived in both NYC and Tokyo and has had the opportunity to work with many of the Japanese and American composers programmed in these concerts. The "Tokyo to New York" concerts include a wide variety of styles of music, from Japanese avant-garde to American contemporary classical, minimalism, neo-Romantic, and jazz-influenced pieces. The concerts feature new works composed for Western classical instruments as well as traditional Japanese instruments.

"Tokyo to New York" is a series of concerts in Tokyo and New York City that celebrates, honors and recognizes the connections between Tokyo and New York City. Since 2012, "Tokyo to New York" concerts, with Thomas Piercy and his U.S. and Japanese colleagues, has presented over 50 World Premiers composed for Piercy.

More information at: http://www.tonadaproductions.com/tokyo-to-new-york-2014-spectrum.html