Specializing in Koto, Shamisen and the Chello, Duo Yumeno is a Japanese duo that focuses on playing unique stringed instruments. Tomorrow evening, they’ll be bringing that music live to the Japan House on Lincoln Avenue in Urbana.
Donations will be accepted at the door, with a suggested tag of $20 from adults and $10 from students or seniors.
For more information on how you can experience this unique sonic event, RSVP to the Facebook event and read the description below:
We are delighted to welcome Duo Yumeno back to Japan House on Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 5:30 pm! Their outstanding performance last year left the audience thrilled!
Donations (cash and check only) will be accepted. Suggested price: $20 ($10 for seniors/students).
New York based koto/shamisen player and singer Yoko Reikano Kimura and cellist Hikaru Tamaki create a singular fusion of sound, inspired by tradition but with a contemporary sensibility, exploring the dialogue between classical Japanese and western music. Kimura and Tamaki first collaborated at the Fort Wayne Cherry Blossom Festival in 2008 and since then have been performing together regularly in Japan and the US. They were also invited to perform in Turkey and visited Trinidad to be featured at the opening concert of “Japan – CARICOM Friendship Year 2014”. In 2014, they were awarded the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program grant, and in 2015, received the Baroque Saal Award given by the Aoyama Foundation in Kyoto. In 2015, the duo was invited to perform at the University of Cambridge in the UK. Most recently, the duo was featured at the 2017 National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC.
Kimura graduated from Tokyo University of Arts and was awarded a scholarship from the Agency of Culture Affairs of Japan. Awards include the First prize at the prestigious 10th Kenjun Memorial National Koto Competition. As a koto/shamisen soloist, she has performed with numerous string quartets, chamber ensembles and chamber orchestras.
Following his studies at Eastman School of Music, Rice University and Northwestern University, Tamaki served as the principal cellist of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and has given numerous performances of major concertos with the orchestra. In 2016, he was appointed to serve as the principal cellist of the Berkshire Opera Festival Orchestra.
Their activities have been featured in the media such as the New York Times, Chamber Music America Magazine, the Yomiuri Times, Hōgaku Journal and NPR.