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Meg Okura
Meg Okura (born August 9, 1973) is an American jazz violinist, composer, erhu player, and leader of the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, based in New York City. She is also a member of the band Pharaoh's Daughter, Emilio Solla y La Inestable de Brooklyn, which was nominated for the 57th Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album, and New York Tango Quartet, among others. She has worked with jazz and pop artists such as Michael Brecker, Lee Konitz, Dianne Reeves, Steve Swallow, Tom Harrell, David Bowie and Mariko Takahashi as well as actor/musician Terrence Howard. Okura has also been the featured violinist in the Cirque du Soleil shows Varekai, Corteo and Wintuk. Early life Meg Okura (大倉恵, born in Tokyo, Japan), started studying music at Toho Gakuen School of Music at five. As a child, she served as a church pianist and organist at an Evangelical church in her home town of Ome. In the early 1990s, Meg Okura toured Asia as the concertmaster and soloist of the Asian Youth Orchestra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mariko Takahashi (singer)
is a Japanese female singer. She is known for her ballad pop songs. She began her singing career in 1973 singing covers, but soon progressed to writing her own songs. She is also able to play piano and saxophone. On May 20, 2009, Takahashi released the cover album of Japanese male singers, ''No Reason: Otoko Gokoro'', in which she covered Kyu Sakamoto's "Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi o" and Yūzō Kayama's "Kimi to Itsumademo." The album debuted at No. 7 on the Japanese Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ... album charts. Representative works include'Peach Breath' (Peach Breath / 1984). References External linksMariko Takahashi's Official Website in English 1949 births Living people Japanese women pop singers Musicians from Hiroshima Prefecture {{j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chamber Music America
Chamber Music America (CMA) is an American non-profit organization that provides small ensemble professionals with access to a variety of professional development, networking, and funding resources. CMA's regular initiatives include grants, awards, and commissioning programs for ensembles and presenters, a national conference held annually in New York City, and the publication of ''Chamber Music'' magazine. CMA-members organizations and individuals include ensembles, musicians, concert presenters, artist managers, composers, educators, and others involved in the performance of classical, jazz, contemporary, and world music. In May 2012, Chamber Music America introduced National Chamber Music Month, a month-long initiative to raise awareness of small ensemble performance in the United States. History Chamber Music America was founded in 1977 by 34 musicians with the principal aims of uniting, serving, and advocating for small ensemble music professionals. After first initiating a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Newsome
Sam Newsome (born April 28, 1965) is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator. His music combines straight-ahead jazz, world music (drawing influences from North Africa and East Asia) and experimental jazz, which uses extended techniques. Newsome is an associate professor of music and the coordinator of the music program at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus. Biography Early life Newsome was born in Salisbury, Maryland and began playing the alto saxophone at age nine. His family moved to Hampton, Virginia years later while he was in elementary school. At age 13, Newsome switched to the tenor saxophone when he joined his junior high school jazz ensemble. While in high school, he played in a garage band called Fantasy One with classmate bassist James Genus. Saxophonist Steve Wilson, who was a former member of the group, taught Newsome jazz theory after school while in high school. Education He studied Jazz Composition & Arranging at the Berklee College of Mus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elite drama, music, and dance schools in the world. History Early years: 1905-1946 In 1905, the Institute of Musical Art, Juilliard's predecessor institution, was founded by Frank Damrosch, the godson of Franz Liszt and head of music education for New York City Department of Education, New York City's public schools, on the premise that the United States did not have a premier music school and too many students were going to Europe to study music. In 1919, a wealthy textile merchant named Augustus Juilliard died and left the school in his will the largest single bequest for the advancement of music at that time. In 1968, the school's name was changed from the Juilliard School of Music to The Juilliard School to reflect its broadened missi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It was named in 1964 as a memorial to Assassination of John F. Kennedy, assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Opened on September 8, 1971, the center hosts many different genres of performance art, such as theater, dance, orchestras, jazz, Pop music, pop, psychedelic, and folk music. Authorized by the 1958 National Cultural Center Act of Congress, which requires that its programming be sustained through private funds, the center represents a public–private partnership. Its activities include educational and outreach initiatives, almost entirely funded through ticket sales and gifts from individuals, corporations, and private foundations. The original building, designed by architect was constructed by Phil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Schneider
Abraham Alexander Schneider (October 21, 1908 – February 2, 1993) was a violinist, conductor and educator. Born to a Jewish family in Vilnius, Lithuania, he later moved to the United States as a member of the Budapest String Quartet. Early life Alexander (Sasha) was born Abram Sznejder. At 13, he almost died of tetanus after cutting his knee in an accident. The tetanus distorted his joints and recovery was long and painful. Sasha left Vilnius in 1924 and joined his brother Mischa Schneider in Frankfurt after securing a scholarship to study violin with Adolf Rebner, the principal violin tutor at the Hoch Conservatory. Career In 1927, Alexander became leader (concertmaster) of an orchestra in Saarbrücken. It was at this point that he changed his name. The conductor wanted him as leader, but wanted a German-sounding name. Abram took Schneider as a surname because his brother Mischa had already chosen it, and Alexander appealed to him as a first name. In 1929, he was appointed l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asian Youth Orchestra
The Asian Youth Orchestra (AYO) is a youth orchestra composed of musicians from several Asian countries. It was founded by Yehudi Menuhin and Richard Pontzious in 1987, and its first concert took place in August 1990, conducted by Menuhin. Currently, the orchestra's artistic director is Richard Pontzious, its principal conductor is James Judd, and its conductor laureate is Sergiu Comissiona. History AYO's history includes the premiere of Tan Dun's Symphony 1997 with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and concerts in venues such as Beijing's Great Hall of the People, New York's Avery Fisher Hall, California's Hollywood Bowl, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Berlin's Shauspielhaus, Vienna's Konzerthaus, Northern Virginia's Wolf Trap, and the Sydney Opera House. The orchestra has also performed in the White House and at the United Nations. A formation committee of Hong Kong businessmen and women created the organizational structure for the Asian Youth Orchestra in 1987 and established it as a tax-exempt no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toho Gakuen School Of Music
is a private music school in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. History Toho Gakuen was founded in 1948 in Ichigaya (Tokyo) as the Music School for Children, and two years later moved to Sengawa (current address at Wakabacyo, Chofushi, Tokyo) and opened the Toho High School of Music, to provide quality musical education to teenage girls. Nov.1954 moved to Sengawa (Wakabacyo, Chofu-shi, Tokyo). 1955 saw the establishment of the Junior College and in 1961 the Junior College becomes the Toho Gakuen College Music Department. The College of Music was a pioneer in offering university-level degrees in music in Japan. In 1995 the Toho Orchestra Academy was established in Toyama and in 1999 opened the Toho Gakuen Graduate School, which offers postgraduate degrees. Studies Through its high school, college and graduate school, Toho Gakuen offers studies from preparatory diplomas to master's degrees in all orchestral instruments, piano, composition, conducting and musicology. Notable staff members ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 million residents ; the city proper has a population of 13.99 million people. Located at the head of Tokyo Bay, the prefecture forms part of the Kantō region on the central coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island. Tokyo serves as Economy of Japan, Japan's economic center and is the seat of both the Government of Japan, Japanese government and the Emperor of Japan. Originally a fishing village named Edo, the city became politically prominent in 1603, when it became the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. By the mid-18th century, Edo was one of the most populous cities in the world with a population of over one million people. Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the imperial capital in Kyoto was mov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wintuk
''Wintuk'' (pronounced ''win-took''; amalgamating the English word "winter" with Inupiaq phonetics) was a semi-permanent and seasonal residency show created by Cirque du Soleil. ''Wintuk'' played seasonally from 2007 to 2011 at the former WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden (now the Hulu Theater) entertainment complex in New York. The show ran for ten weeks each winter holiday season during the 2007 to 2011 period. Previews of Wintuk began November 1, 2007 and the world premiere and inaugural season was launched on November 7, 2007. ''Wintuk'' was a 90-minute show with a 20-minute intermission. Its initial premier season ran from November 7, 2007 to January 6, 2008. It returned for three more engagements with the final season running from November 17, 2010 through January 2, 2011. Storyline A young boy named Jamie lives in a city that has entered the season of winter. Although the season has brought ice, long shadows and intense cold, the most important arrival has not come: t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corteo
Corteo is a Cirque du Soleil touring production that premiered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on April 21, 2005. As of May 24, 2005, Cirque du Soleil had broken its record of spectators for the première location in Montreal; more than 200,000 people had viewed the production, far outpacing the prior record of 180,000 tickets sold for ''Varekai'' during its première. The show's final performance under the big top took place in Quito, Ecuador on 13 December 2015. On November 20, 2017, Cirque du Soleil announced that the show would once again set out on tour, this time in the arena format. The re-staged show premiered March 2, 2018 in New Orleans. ''Cortéo''—an Italian word meaning "cortège" or procession—is a contemporary circus show about a clown who watches his own funeral taking place in a carnival-like atmosphere. It was partly inspired by ''The Grand Parade: Portrait of the Artist as Clown'' on display at the National Gallery of Canada and the movie ''I Clowns'' by Fed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
