Saxophonist Kongo Toku: Walking through the Yamate landscape with music
I have been asked to write a column on the theme of "Kanagawa and Art," so I would like to write mainly about the Yamate district of Yokohama, which is my favorite walking route and where I often have the opportunity to perform.
Before that, let me first give you a brief introduction to our music unit.
We are a somewhat unique trio consisting of piano, cello, and myself on saxophone. We call ourselves the Shanti Dragon Trio, and each member lives in Yokohama and Kamakura. Each member is also involved in various musical activities outside of this trio.
Shanti Dragon Trio SHANTI DRAGON 3
Piano Composition and Arrangement: Akemi Hayashi
Cello Christopher Satoshi Gibson
Sax King Kongo
The songs performed are diverse, ranging from world songs and Japanese songs to children's songs, folk songs, popular songs, film music, classical music, originals, and more.
Returning to the topic at hand, many historic Western-style buildings remain along Yamate Hondori, the main street of the Yamate district. These include Bluff No. 18, the Diplomat's House, Berrick Hall, Ehrisman House, Yamate No. 234, the British House in Yokohama, and Yamate No. 111. Each Western-style building has its own unique structure and charm, and many of them even have pianos, which is where our unit often has the opportunity to play.
Bluff 18 has hosted several summer concerts. The piano on display is a 100-year-old Japanese-made Matsumoto piano, built to fit the dimensions of Japanese houses of the time, with a few fewer keys than the original. However, it still produces a very lyrical tone and resonates beautifully.
At the Berrick Hall, we collaborated on musical performances with French cuisine. An instructor from a French cooking class in Yokohama Motomachi prepared small dishes for approximately 80 people, including guests, staff, and performers. After the performance, all the guests sampled the food. Of course, we and the staff also enjoyed some, and the food was delicious in the aura of the Western-style building.
Provided by: JapanTravel.comThe neighboring Western-style building, the Ehrismann Residence, is located within Motomachi Park. The basement is a hall, and performances are held while looking out at the greenery of the park through the windows. Last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a concert was held to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the opening of Motomachi Park, with the audience seating capacity reduced to one-third.
Just past the Ehrismann Residence, past the Foreign Cemetery and next to Minato Mirai Park, is the British House in Yokohama. We have also held many performances here. The gardens visible from the hall's windows are incredibly beautiful, and the rose concerts held in the adjacent English Rose Garden are fond memories. The sweet scent of roses wafting through the air during the performance was wonderful.
Provided by: JapanTravel.comYokohama International School is located in front of the Yokohama British House, and Saint-Maur International School is located near the Ehrismann Residence, and all three members of the Shanti Dragon Trio teach instrumental music at these schools. Incidentally, Shanti Dragon Trio member Christopher graduated from Yokohama International School and later went on to study at a university in the United States.
I mainly play the saxophone, but I have one student who plays the trumpet. After six years of lessons, he went abroad to study and returned to Japan, where he is now working as a respected member of society. Although I am not an expert on brass instruments, by the time my student graduated, he was able to play Haydn's Trumpet Concerto. This is the result of his hard work.
The history of wind instruments in Japan, such as trumpets and saxophones, actually began in this Yamate area. As the era changed to the Meiji period, the British and French armies were stationed in this area, and each army had its own musical band, known as a military band.
The military band performed in Yamate Park, and at Myokoji Temple on the way down from Yamate to Honmoku, students of Western music from the Satsuma domain received instruction from the military bandmaster of the British Army stationed in Honmoku, Yokohama, and this is said to be the beginning of wind band music in Japan.
Provided by: JapanTravel.comMy previous job was in wind instrument manufacturing and research, so the Yamate area holds a special meaning for me, even beyond the time I perform. Yokohama is changing rapidly these days, but Yamate Hondori is one of the few places that still retains the feel of old Yokohama. And it's this Yamate area of Yokohama that gives our performances a special excitement.
Shanti Dragon 3 intends to continue to deliver even more fascinating performances from here in Yokohama.
【profile】
Shanti Dragon Trio
Shanti means "inner peace" in Sanskrit. The dragon is not the dragon as it is perceived in the West, but a dragon that symbolizes a powerful and auspicious force in Asia, and is the god of water.
Shantee Dragon was originally a duo consisting of pianist Akemi Hayashi and saxophonist Toku Kongo, but when cellist Christopher Satoshi Gibson, who was also Hayashi's piano and solfeggio student, joined, the group was called Shantee Dragon 3.
The trio began with the Yokohama Museum of Art Hall concert at Yokohama Art Live 2003, and the recording of the CD "Yume Futa Yoru" (Futa Nights of Dreams), all composed by Akemi Hayashi, in the same year. They have also been actively involved in volunteer performances at facilities for the disabled.
Christopher Satoshi Gibson left Japan to attend university in the United States, putting the trio on hold for a while, but after returning to Japan he was active in various scenes and rejoined Shantae Dragon in 2019. They resumed activities as Shantae Dragon 3.
Pianist, composer, arranger. Born and living in Yokohama.
From a young age, she began learning piano and electronic organ, and studied piano under her relatives, Jo Matsutani and Midori Matsutani. Under their guidance, she was exposed to a wide range of music, from classical to contemporary music, pop, and jazz, and began performing while still a student at a music college.
After graduating from a music college, he worked as a music instructor at the Yokohama Contemporary Music Academy and other institutions, and as a solfeggio instructor for the Yokohama Municipal High School Wind Band, before founding Maple Piano School (Isogo Ward, Yokohama City). Utilizing his experience as a piano instructor and player, he strives to teach the next generation of piano players, from children to adults.
They perform at concerts sponsored by Yokohama City, Yamate Western-style Houses (British House, Berrick Hall, Bluff No. 18), Sankeien Garden "Moon Viewing Concert", Yokohama Jazz Promenade, and other venues, mainly in halls and live music venues in Yokohama and Tokyo. They often perform original songs, and have released over 100 original songs, including those included on CDs. They have released five CDs to date.
Volunteer performances are also actively participated in.
Born in Michigan, USA. Started playing the cello at age four. Participated in summer programs at Tanglewood, Indiana University, and Interlochen while in high school. After graduating from Yokohama International School, entered Yale University in 2005, double majoring in philosophy and political science.
While studying at Yale, he passed an audition with cellist Aldo Parisot and studied cello with Ole Akahoshi of the Yale School of Music, who was Pierre Fournier's youngest student and also served as Janos Starker's assistant for many years. He also studied chamber music with Wendy Sharp, also of the Yale School of Music. In 2009, he won a prize at the Yale School of Music's FOM Competition. In the winter of 2012, he won a prize at the International Association of Musicians' Newcomer Audition, and received praise from violinist Shigemichi Kawabata, one of the judges, for his "performance that allows you to immerse yourself in the world of the music."
In 2017, under the auspices of the NPO Emotion in Motion, she held the "BACH Solo" unaccompanied cello recital series at the Minato Mirai Small Hall, Tiara Koto, Tokorozawa Muse, and Suntory Hall "Blue Rose." She has performed with violinist Ikuko Kawai on TV Tokyo's "100 Years of Music" program recordings and concerts, as well as at BLUE NOTE TOKYO (2020), Cerulean Tower Noh Theater (2019), and Mitsukoshi Theater (2018). She is active mainly in Tokyo, Kamakura, Nagano, and other areas.
He started playing the saxophone at the age of 12, studying under Hisatoshi Muta (President of the Japan Wind Band Directors Association, former head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Band) and Makoto Suda (Professor at Musashino Academia Musicae). He joined Yanagisawa Wind Instruments Co., Ltd., one of the world's three largest saxophone manufacturers.
After working in instrument manufacturing, research, instruction, and management positions, he went independent. In 1995, he founded Congo Saxophone Studio, offering saxophone repair, lessons, and performance services. In 1997, he won the Jazz Life magazine Best New Artist Award for his CD /OUR TRIBAL MUSIC. He was appointed by the Yokohama City Board of Education and served as a lecturer at Yokohama Minato Commercial High School for four years. In addition to concerts and recordings at Yokohama Museum of Art Hall, Minato Mirai Hall, Kanagawa Prefectural Music Hall, Sankeien Garden, Yamate Western-style Building, and other venues, he also actively volunteers at Yokohama City University Hospital, as well as facilities for the disabled and welfare facilities in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Kyushu, and Hokuriku.
He has collaborated with top Japanese musicians, visiting musicians from the UK, Italy, Switzerland, and France, as well as calligrapher Suisen Nakatani, dancer Kazuo Ohno, actor Sciart Burnham Atkin, reciter Akira Kodama, and Important Intangible Cultural Property Holder Bokusei Mochizuki, among others. He has also collaborated with many artists across genres. He also leads a citizen saxophone ensemble that performs mainly Bach chorales.
Several CDs and DVDs have been released so far.
