TOKYO CONCERTS

～Artistic Director: Toshi Ichiyanagi～

The Tokyo International Music Ensemble(TIME) was founded in 1989 to present the recent trends and direction of contemporary music in Japan under the leadership of its Artistic Director, Toshi Ichiyanagi.
The Ensemble toured the United States including New York,Washington D.C.and Los Angels in the spring of 1990,Frankfurut and Cologne in the autumn of 1990, 8 cities in the United Kingdom including London and Huddersfield , Berlin in 1992, Vienna in 1992 and 1996, and in 1997 Paris, Oslo,Stord, Bergen and Cologne.
The Ensemble consists of leading musicians who perform on instruments such as the sho, hichiriki and ryuteki of the gagaku (imperial court music) orchestra whose history dates back almost one thousand two hundred years to the 8th century, as well as more familiar traditional instruments such as the koto and shakuhachi from Japan's medieval period.
A programme of contemporary compositions featuring the joint performances of traditional instruments and Western classical instruments is the focal point of this Ensemble.
All members have been active in solo and ensemble performances abroad, particularly in Europe, and, of course, at home in Japan.
Having performed principally at the National Theatre of Japan in Tokyo, these musicians are particularly noteworthy for three reasons.
Firstly, for their dedicated efforts to restore and revitalize the classical traditions of music which originated on the Asian continent but have been gradually lost or abandoned through history.
Secondly, for their creative efforts in the commissioning of new works for those classical instruments by modern composers.
And finally, for their present-day perspective and insight into traditional music as works of art.

Member

• Artistic Director : Toshi Ichiyanagi
  
• Ensemble Leader : Sukeyasu Shiba
  
• Principals : Satoru Yaotani / Mayumi Miyata
  
• Composer : Maki Ishii / Toshi Ichiyanagi
  
• Adviser : Toshiro Kido
  
• ryuteki : Sukeyasu Shiba / Naoko Miyamaru / Yuko Iwakame
  
• hichiriki : Sataoru Yaotani / Hitomi Nakamura
  
• sho : Mayumi Miyata / Ko Ishikawa / Tamami Tono
  
• shakuhachi : Kifu Mitsuhashi
  
• kugo : Ayako Shinozaki
  
• koto : Chieko Fukunaga
  
• biwa : Yukio Tanaka
  
• percussion : Yasunori Yamaguchi
  
• shomyo : Koshin Ebihara / Kojun Arai