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Kohei Nishikawa Flute & Japanese Bamboo flute |
Hideko Nara Piano |
Liu Fang Chinese pipa & Zheng |
Patrick Graham Percussion |
The Nishikawa Ensemble is a Japanese chamber music group founded by Mr. Kohei Nishikawa, one of Japan's most accomplished and versatile players of both Western and Japanese flutes. The theme of the Nishikawa Ensemble is "from East to West". The ensemble is composed of high caliber musicians for traditional Japanese instruments such as the shinobue, nohkan, biwa, koto, and taiko, as well as Western instruments such as the flute, piano, vibraphone, and marimba. The repertoire of the ensemble includes wide variety of crossover of Asian and Western music, from traditional to contemporary. In particular, the ensemble often commissions works that combine Western and Japanese instruments. The ensemble often invites guest performers, offering further opportunities for creativity and performance of diverse repertoire.
Another unusual aspect of the Nishikawa Ensemble is its inclusion of a composer as a regular member of the ensemble. In this way, the ensemble has a constant supply of new repertoire composed with a direct consultation with the performers and for the desired instrumentation. The composer is assured of performances which will truly reflect the intended nature and nuances of the pieces.
In addition to concerts in Japan, the Nishikawa Ensemble has made three tours in Canada and the USA for concerts as well as workshops. The ensemble has also committed itself to an ongoing series of recordings with two CDs having been already released.