Kahoru NAKAMURA, Gaku-biwa and Mai（Dance）
While a student at Kunitachi College of Music, Kahoru Nakamura began studyingGagaku
after hearing a performance of Bankasō, a piece restored by Sukeyasu Shibafrom theanthology of pieces contained in the Tenpyō biwa fu, the oldest extantcollection of notation
for the biwa. She studied the ryūteki ﬂute with Sukeyasu Shibaand gakubiwa and Bugaku
dance with Kiyohiko Yamada. In 2000 she was active as atrainee in the program forupcoming artists sponsored by the Agency for CulturalAﬀairs. As a member of theReigakusha ensemble, together with other ensembles and ina solo capacity, since 1990 she
has performed the biwa and given dance performances atconcerts in Japan and overseas,
including at the National Theatre in Tokyo.As well as performing in the traditional Gagaku
ensemble, she began from early on tomark out her own distinctive path by exploring new
possibilities for the gakubiwa as asolo instrument. Since 2002 she has organized a concert
series under the title of Biwa,Mai. She released her ﬁrst CD album, with the title Yusura, in2015, and in 2016presented a concert under the title of Playing the Gakubiwa. In 2018 thecomposer TarōIshida composer a work for her to perform on the gakubiwa at an exhibition
entitledBenches of the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien
ArtMuseum. A recording was played at the venue for the whole duration of the exhibitionto
the delight and astonishment of visitors.
In the ﬁeld of dance she has performed classical items from the Bugaku repertory suchas
Genjōraku, Nasori, Batō and Kitoku with the Reigakusha ensemble at music festivalsin
Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Africa. In 1998 she tookpart in aperformance with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra of Bugaku, the balletcomposed byToshirō Mayuzumi. In 2012 she took part in a performance of Nasori inSouth Korea incollaboration with members of the Busan National Gugak Centre, and in2015 she danced ina performance of Rakuson at the National Gugak Centres in Seouland Busan. She has alsochoreographed her own dances, which have been incorporatedto high acclaim in
performances of two works by Sukeyasu Shiba, Rotai ranbu (1995)and Zuikaen (2005).
In addition to her performances on gakubiwa of the classical Gagaku repertory andofcontemporary music, she has performed on the 5-stringed biwa and the genkan,twoinstruments restored on the basis of originals housed in the collection of theShōsōinImperial Repository in Nara. Together with musicologists and scholars of literature,shehas also been involved as a performer in a project to restore long defunct secret andsolopieces for the gakubiwa. In 2015, together with Kō Ichikawa, she embarked on a
projectinvolving the unusual instrumental combination of shō and biwa. With thenameKishun, the duo have given a series of small concerts and lessons intended toenhancelistenersʼ enjoyment of Gagaku.
In addition to her solo CD Yusura, issued on Greenﬁn Records, she has taken part inCDs
including Musical Instrument to East and West: Biwa and Mandolin (YokohamaMunicipal
Art and Culture Promotion Foundation) and Asobi (Tarō Ishida).

CONTACTBLUESHEET
Mail: info@b-sheet.jp
Tel: 03-6275-1616