Japan – Concert Tour
April 19-27, 2008

Silk Road Ensemble members traveled to Japan from China, Iran, the United States and Canada for a whirlwind five-city, eight-concert tour in Matsumoto, Nagoya, Tokyo, Osaka and Okayama. During each performance, shakuhachi player Kojiro Umezaki introduced the program in Japanese, putting in context a varied repertoire drawn from Japanese, Chinese, Peruvian, Lebanese, Persian, Turkish, Uzbek and African origins. Works ranged from somber to exuberant, with moods as diverse as the cherry blossoms in Matsumoto and Tokyo's urban pulse.

The concert tour was sponsored by American Express, which also made possible a special performance by the Ensemble at the American School in Japan (ASIJ), which Umezaki attended in Tokyo. The musicians performed music from Japan, China, Iran and Sicily, representing the Silk Road from East to West, and answered questions. An enthusiastic audience of music students from several grades jumped to their feet for a standing ovation after the performance, which marked a homecoming for Umezaki. His first shakuhachi teacher from ASIJ, Don Berger, flew to Tokyo from the United States to be present for the performance.

Following concerts in Osaka and Okayama, the tour concludes in Tokyo with two performances of The Adventures of Prince Achmed, a classic animated film well known in Japan, for which the Ensemble has written and performed a new live musical score.

Some members of the Silk Road Ensemble continued on to perform at a celebration at Kumamoto Castle. Eight-thousand Kumamoto residents vied for the 500 available seats in the palace courtyard. Tickets to the free concert, "A Journey through Traditions," were assigned by lottery.