Reiko Obata is a Japanese-American

koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * K ...

performer and composer, based in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

, United States.

Background

Reiko Obata began studying koto in 1980 after studying flute and piano as a child. She studied koto under masters in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

including Mde. Kayoko Wakita in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and composer and virtuoso Shinichi Yuize in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Obata has a music master's degree from

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

and her daishihan (grand master) degree from Seiha Conservatory of Japanese Music. She plays koto, bass koto and shamisen.

Career

Obata has performed with jazz saxophonist Hollis Gentry III, classical symphony musicians, and traditional Japanese artists. She has performed koto at the

Temecula Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a t ...

and Idyllwild Jazz Festivals. Her music can be heard in Byron Barth's 2007 ''The Art of Zen Shiatsu'' DVD, as well as Vivian Price's 2006 film, ''Transnational Tradeswomen.'' Obata performed koto, shamisen, and percussion in Dr. Marianne McDonald's award-winning play ''...and then he met a woodcutter.'' As one of the few koto performers to perform koto concertos with U.S. orchestras, Obata has been a featured soloist on multiple occasions with orchestras including with Orchestra Nova for San Diego's KPBS in 2010. She has performed koto for television, radio, film, and live theatre. Obata has been a featured performer at harp and folk festivals. She is a former World Music and Music Appreciation college instructor. Obata has recorded multiple CDs of her own compositions and arrangements, including ''Serenity,'' ''Sound of Kiri,'' and a self-titled jazz koto CD with her band East West, founded in 2005. She was one of the first koto players to play jazz on the koto and the only one to have released a CD of jazz standards. Obata produced the first English language koto instructional DVD ''You Can Play Koto,'' as well as produced and arranged the first all-Western notation koto books, ''Christmas Songs for Koto'' and ''Japanese Melodies for Koto.''

References

External links

Obata International Koto SchoolReiko Obata's official siteEast West Jazz official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obata, Reiko Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Koto players American women jazz musicians American women music educators San Diego State University alumni 21st-century American women