Shamisen Recital
The Shamisen is an instrument from the lute family. It is played on ones knees, Japanese style (seiza), i.e. buttock on the heels. Coming from China, it entered Japan quite late, around 1560. Its name derives directly from its Chinese counterpart, the san-hsien, which means three strings
.
Popular instrument, it was first used to accompany traditional songs from the countryside, the minyô. During the Edo era, it became the geisha's favorite instrument. The Shamisen is played on it's own or as accompaniment to the Kabuki theater dances or to the stories from the bunraku puppet theater.
The Soubugen duo:
Suginaka Hisao starts with the rock guitar before dedicating himself to the Shamisen in Aomori, instrument he will study for seven years with the master he follows on tour. In 1996, he leaves the nest and associates with Yuko Saaya to form the Soubugen duo which performs in Japan and abroad from 2003 during Winter Festivals in New-Zealand, but also in India and recently in Spain.
Yuko Saaya practices, since her dear childhood, dancing and traditional Japanese singing. In 1987, she enters the professional theater company hyosetsunomon, forming with which she works for 8 years before joining Suginaka Hisao.
Both artists are lead by the same passion for traditional instruments.
The duo will, in addition to its concerts, make a musical kimono presentation.
This concert is organized in partnership with the Cercle Suisse Japon.
Shakuhachi, originating from China, made its first apparition in Japan in the Nara era, around the year 700. Rediscovered a few centries later, this bamboo flute became, with its soft and captivating tone, the prerogative of a traveling monk sect, the Komuso. Being a meditation instrument, its sound was meant to express the strength of the breath, and its melodies to explore the almost infinite timbres and sound colors of the instrument.