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Sukeyasu Shiba's Gagaku Universe Music From Japan celebrated its 35th anniversary with Sukeyasu Shiba and his gagaku ensemble, Reigakusha. For this special program Reigakusha performed original and reconstructed works by Mr. Shiba along with a brand new MFJ commission, Mai Fu Jin 35, composed by Mr. Shiba in honor of Music From Japan ’s 35th anniversary. The program also featured newly commissioned dance segments to excerpts from Mr. Shiba ’s epic, Shotorashion. Festival 2010 opened on February 20 at Merkin Hall in New York City with Sukeyasu Shiba ’s Gagaku Universe. In a preconcert lecture, Mr. Shiba gave a history of Gagaku music. One of the world ’s foremost scholars on the subject, Mr. Shiba described the evolution of the music and gave a demonstration on the biwa. The concert portion of the program began with Guwa No. 1 for shakuhachi and harp, a delicate work in which the distinctive colors of each instrument mix and intermingle progressively throughout the piece. Next, Mr. Shiba treated the audience to his solo ryuteki piece, Ichichyo no Fu. While not overtly virtuosic, the work showcased his nimbleness on the instrument as well his innate musicality as both a performer and a composer. The first half of the concert closed with Reigakusha giving the world premiere of Mai Fu Jin 35. The vivid colors of this work were accentuated by the slow, driving rhythms of the percussion. New York Times critic Allan Kozinn described the work as having “an alluring sound, with the sho providing an appealing drone, the stringed instruments adding texture and the ryuteki providing attractive melodies. Yet it was the music ’s rhythmic element — both the intricate patterns played by the individual percussionists, and the way the overall rhythm morphed as the work progressed — that made the strongest impression. ” The second half of the concert began with a quartet of haisho, gaku-so, genkan and o-hichiriki performing a reconstruction of Chosa Join, one of 25 manuscripts for biwa found in cave 17 of the 1000 Buddhist caves at Dun Huang in Western China. Shotorashion closed the program and served as a fitting finale. A work for full gagaku ensemble that featured three new dance segments commissioned by Music From Japan, the piece showcased Reigakusha ’s intensity alongside its beauty: the modern dance was choreographed and performed by Stephen Pier, while the mikomai dance was choreographed and performed by Maya Sakai. After the concert, Music From Japan hosted a reception upstairs for the performers, composers and tomodachi (friends) of Music From Japan. Highlights of MFJ Commissions II The second concert Highlights of MFJ Commissions II, given at Merkin Hall on February 21, focused on past commissions by Music From Japan, as well as two new commissions for the occasion. Works by Hikaru Hayashi, Shin-ichiro Ikebe, and Sunao Isaji were revived, and new commissions by Hitomi Kaneko and Yasuko Yamaguchi were premiered by Mayumi Miyata, Hitomi Nakamura and Music From Japan Chamber Ensemble, which comprised pianist Stephen Gosling, cellist Fred Sherry, percussionist Eric Poland, the Cassatt String Quartet and conductor Yasuaki Itakura.

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