- Kiku Day
Kiku (Kikutsubo 菊壺) Day, born in
Tokyo 19 October ,1965 , is a "ji-nashi""shakuhachi" (地なし尺八, also called "kyotaku" 虚鐸 or"hocchiku" 法竹) player fromDenmark , with roots fromJapan ,USA ,Ireland , andRussia . Between 1989 and 1999, she studied"honkyoku" 本曲, the traditional repertoire of the komusō 虚無僧monks, with Okuda Atsuya 奥田敦也 (1945-) in Tokyo, during which time she also studied ji-nashi shakuhachi-making with Murai Eigorō 村井英五郎 (1932-) [http://www.komuso.com/people/Murai_Eigoro.html] .During her BA studies in ethnomusicology at SOAS, the School of Oriental and African Studies [http://www.soas.ac.uk/] , University of London (2002-2004), her interest turned more and more towards the music of today. After receiving her MA in Performance and Literature (2005) at Mills College [http://www.mills.edu/] , Oakland, California, where she focused on improvisation and the performance of contemporary music on the "ji-nashi shakuhachi", Kiku Day returned to SOAS, where she is presently pursuing a doctorate in ethnomusicology and performance. Fascinated by the depth and timbre of the "ji-nashi shakuhachi" sound, she continues to explore both the traditional repertoire and the "ji-nashi shakuhachi"’s possibilities in contemporary music.
An experienced "shakuhachi" activist and prime mover of the first-ever European Shakuhachi Summer School [http://www.shakuhachisummer-soas.com/] [http://www.shakuhachi.com/G-PESSS.html] , recently held at SOAS (2006), she is also one of the founders of the European Shakuhachi Society [http://shakuhachisociety.eu/] .
During the last decade, Ms Day has performed throughout Europe, USA, Japan and New Zealand in everything from classical "honkyoku" concerts to modern operas [http://redcat.org/about/press/0506/11.7.05wet.php] .
Discography
Kiku Day plays the "shakuhachi" on the following CDs:
*Henry Kaiser: "Domo Arigato Derek-Sensei!" [http://www.balancepointacoustics.com/ Balance Point Acoustics] . bpaltd202
*Kiku Day,Henry Kaiser : "Zen Kaiju" [http://www.balancepointacoustics.com/ Balance Point Acoustics] . bpldt303
*Myles Boisen & Jon Raskin: "Music + One. An Improvisation Compendium". [http://www.rastascan.com/index.html Rastascan Records] . BRD 054
*Fred Frith : "The Happy End Problem ".Fred Records . RēR/FRA 05External links
* [http://www.kikuday.com/ Kiku Day's website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/kikuday/ Kiku Day's blog]
* [http://www.komuso.com/people/Day,_Kiku.html/ Kiku Day bio]
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