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“Bountiful Autumn” by Kodo Ensemble Leader Yuichiro Funabashi


Oct. 5, 2016

Bountiful Autumn

Photo: Taro Nishita

Hello, everyone. I hope you are all well.

The rice harvest has nearly finished here on Sado Island and the crops are drying on racks. We  look forward to tasting the newly harvested rice very soon. One of the luxurious perks of living in a rural area is eating locally grown rice, and I have to say that Sado Island has particularly delicious rice!

Photo: Takashi Okamoto

Our “Spiral” and “Interactive Performance” tours are currently on the road in Japan. I encourage you to go along to experience these energetic performances at a venue near you. Both casts are largely made up of young performers. Everyday they work so hard to deliver better and better performances, so I am sure they will return to Sado Island even stronger after their efforts on these tours.

Photo: Yui Kawamoto

While the main tours have been on the road, I have been on Sado Island and performing in various places, too. Last weekend, I went to Korea with a select Kodo ensemble, which was Kodo’s first time there in 16 years. It was a whirlwind schedule, just three days and two nights, and we went there especially to perform with Kim Duk Soo and SamulNori at “Korea Japan Exchange Festival 2016 in Seoul.” It was inspiring to see so many Japanese and Korean artists performing in one place. At the end of the festival we all came together for an exciting, climatic finale.

Photo: Yui Kawamoto
Next I’m off to Vietnam for our debut performances there next week. This will be the 49th country where Kodo has given performances. We look forward to being reunited with EC 2016 guest artists Bac Ha and the other friends we made during our visit in February this year. We will perform at a music festival in Vietnam and we look forward to new encounters and further cultural exchange.

Photo: Takashi Okamoto

Our trip to Vietnam promises to be a great opportunity to learn more about the history and background of local musicians and our recent collaborators, as we found out last year after Earth Celebration when Kodo visited Suar Agung in Bali, Indonesia. It will give us all a chance to deepen our mutual understanding. In a few years time, perhaps we can invite guests from various countries back to EC on Sado Island for further collaborations, too.

Kodo tours regularly throughout, Europe and North America, but in recent years we are also enjoying the increasing number of opportunities that arise for us to perform on other continents, too. In the past year, with our performances in Hong Kong, Brazil, Indonesia, Korea, and next in Vietnam, we are traveling to new places and drawing on new inspiration. I am sure this will lead to each member, and our entire group, creating broader, deeper forms of music and expression, which we look forward to sharing with you all.

Photo: Takashi Okamoto

Yuichiro Funabashi, Kodo Ensemble Leader, plays “O-daiko” at EC 2016 “Kodo Village Concert”

yuichirofunabashi_s


“Korea Japan Exchange Festival 2016 in Seoul” by Yui Kawamoto


Korea Japan Exchange Festival 2016 in Seoul


Photo: Yui Kawamoto

On Oct. 2 we took part in an event in Korea called “Korea Japan Exchange Festival 2016 in Seoul.”

Photo: Yui Kawamoto

As the title of the event suggests, it was a fun day of cultural exchange with performances by artists from Japan and Korea. We were so happy to have the chance at this event to perform with Kim Duk Soo and SamulNori for Kodo’s first time in 16 years.

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We prepared for this collaboration with only a few long-distance conversations, but when we rehearsed together the day before, it all came together in perfect unison.

Photo: Yui Kawamoto

It was a short but really fulfilling stay and experience!


Kodo Appearances at “Korea Japan Exchange Festival 2016 in Seoul”

Oct. 2 (Sun), 2016 Seoul, Republic of Korea

http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20161002seoul_en.html


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