A Message from the Sankeien Garden Moon Viewing Party in Yokohama - Enjoying Music Beyond Genres
As someone born and raised in Yokohama, there are certain spots that I have been fond of since I was a child: Yamashita Park, Marine Tower, Harbor View Park, Nogeyama Zoo, the elegant Western-style buildings in Yamate, the beautiful Japanese garden of Sankeien, the majestic temples and shrines of Kamakura, and the coast. As a child, these were tourist spots that my parents would take me to play in or on field trips, but since I started working in the music industry, I have often had the opportunity to perform at the Yamate Western-style buildings, the British House, Berrick Hall, Ehrisman House, Bluff No. 18, and Sankeien.
Yokohama has changed a lot since I was a child. I remember in elementary school social studies class, our teacher pointed to Tokyo Bay near Sakuragicho and said, "In the 21st century, a city will be built on this sea." At the time, I thought, "On the sea?!" But it really has become a big, beautiful city on the sea. I think we should carefully preserve the new city, the old streetscapes and buildings, and the precious cultural assets.
I currently perform primarily with Shantee Dragon (Takashi Kongo, saxophone; Akemi Hayashi, piano, composition, and arrangement), and the unit Shantee Dragon 3, which includes Christopher Satoshi Gibson on cello. Shantee Dragon's repertoire is diverse, including classical, pop, children's songs, folk songs, film soundtracks, popular songs, and original music, and we perform these songs with original arrangements.
Since I was a child, I took piano lessons at my relatives' home in Kamakura. I studied under two of my relatives, Professors Masaru Matsutani (1910-1995) and Midori Matsutani (1943-1994), and was exposed to a wide variety of music, including classical music. I owe it all to these two teachers that I can now enjoy and perform music across genres. Professor Masaru graduated from Tokyo Music School, but after the war he led a jazz big band and was a truly accomplished pianist, mastering a wide range of genres, from classical to jazz. He also taught vocals, and after moving to the United States, he produced many famous jazz vocalists, including Academy Award-winning singers Nancy Umeki, Ayako Hosokawa, Takako Ueno, Teruhisa Togo, Shigeo Maruyama, and Mizue Yamazaki. He also taught artists in the Japanese pop scene, including Candies and Hiromi Ota. One day during a piano lesson, I was handed a sheet of music and told, "Today we're going to practice solfege (basic training in Western music learning that focuses on reading music)." I remember sight-singing the score, which I had never seen before, trying not to make any mistakes. It was a new song by Hiromi Ota, and I found out later when the song was played on a music program on TV (lol). It was a fun lesson that went beyond just technique.
Midori-sensei is a classical pianist who graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts in Berlin, but after returning from Germany she also devoted herself to performing contemporary music. Among her many recordings, the LP "Rhapsody in Blue/Matsutani Midori Plays Gershwin," released in the 1980s (released on CD in 1997), is one of my favorites. It's a beautiful performance that beautifully captures the wonderful world of Gershwin, combining the atmosphere of classical and jazz.
This autumn, a moon-viewing party will be held at Sankeien Garden again.
Sankeien Garden is a charming Japanese garden, filled with beautiful seasonal flowers, and quaint old buildings, some of which are designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan and Tangible Cultural Properties by Yokohama City. The trees, flowers, buildings, and spaces within the garden are filled with an aura of positive energy, so every time you visit you are soothed and immersed in a feeling of happiness. The harmony between nature and architecture is also wonderful, and the beautiful sight of the harvest moon peeking out over the three-story pagoda from Rinshunkaku, where nature and man-made architecture coexist, is beyond words.
This year's Sankeien Moon Viewing Party will be held from September 18th to 23rd. Every year, the party attracts a wide range of age groups, from children to seniors. We hope everyone will enjoy this year's performance, which will include moon-themed songs, children's songs, film music, anime songs, J-pop, and Showa-era pop, as well as Hiromi Ota's "Cotton Handkerchief." This year's party will feature Shanti Dragon, whose performance begins at 6:20 PM on Tuesday, the 21st. We hope you will come along to enjoy this collaboration of Japanese gardens, the moon, and music.
【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 Seiyokan, 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.
