Music
Michiyo Yagi plays the koto, a traditional Japanese instrument related to the cithara. After long and rigorous training, she opted for modernism and developed a style characterized by unusual power, exploring the percussive aspect of the koto and its, hitherto unsuspected, polyphonic potential, produced by vibrating open strings. Her repertory is huge and ranges from more traditional works to unbridled improvisation.
Under the direction of Kazue Sawai, Michiyo Yagi started to learn the koto in 1985, but the rigidity of the teaching and the academic nature of the traditional repertory did not sit well with her. As a teacher, she was invited to Connecticut from 1989 to 1990, where the proximity of the American avant-garde shattered her conception of the divide between tradition and modernism. She then went on to compose her own works, looking for a new ‘Japaneseness’, free of any influence and homage conventions. She also plays in several formations, including in Hoahio with Sachiko M and Haco.
|
