KODO SINGER YOKO FUJIMOTO SETS 2 CONCERTS FOR JUNE 6 AT NATIONAL MUSEUM

Singer and koto player Yoko Fujimoto, who has performed for many years with the world-renown Kodo taiko ensemble from Japan, will sing songs from her CD, "Morisa Komorisa", a collection of traditional Japanese lullabies from the different prefectures in Japan, in two performances at 2 and 8 p.m. at the Japanese American National Museum on Saturday, June 6. Tickets are $12 for National Museum members and $15 for non-members.

"Morisa Komorisa" is Fujimoto’s first CD and she collaborated with composer and arranger Derek Nakamoto, who wrote musical adaptations of the Japanese lullabies. The CD is a blend of classical and world music with a touch of ambient and electronica flavors, with duets featuring Yoko’s vocals and Nakamoto’s piano improvisations.

Of her CD, Fujimoto explained, "Some lullabies directly express the warm feelings between a mother and her child. Others reflect the difficulty, sadness and frustration of young children from poor families sent to care for other people’s children, when they themselves are still of an age they should be basking in the love of their own mothers. Both kinds of songs are beautiful in their own way.

"I remember being raised to the sound of lullabies," Yoko revealed. "In my singing I can hear my mother’s voice, proof of the bond of love between a parent and a child. I feel the tranquility of returning home. This is the strength of the lullaby."

Born in Tokyo, Fujimoto first joined the Ondekoza taiko group in 1976. The Kodo ensemble evolved out of the original group and Fujimoto performed as a singer, dancer and koto player. In 1989, she performed as part of the Hanayui trio, a folk ensemble. She toured with her husband, Yoshikazu Fujimoto, Kodo’s principal o-daiko player, and visited Cuba and much of North America in 1996.

In 2003, she partnered with PJ Hirabayashi, co-founder of San Jose Taiko, and singer-songwriter-dancer Nobuko Miyamoto of Great Leap to form the Triangle Project. The group created a performance piece, "Journey of the Dandelion", in 2005, and created a CD soundtrack. It was as part of this project that she met Nakamoto.

Nakamoto recalled, "After meeting and working with Yoko as musical director and producer of the soundtrack CD for the Triangle Project, I was so impressed with her vocal stylings that I expressed deep interest in producing a solo CD on her. Yoko came up with the concept of recording her favorite lullabies from the different prefectures in Japan and I loved the idea. She spent a few months collecting the songs and we meet in Los Angeles and recorded them in my studio acapella May 15, 2007."

All the songs on the CD are in Japanese, but Nakamoto noted that the themes in each of the songs are universal. Fujimoto and Nakamoto created adaptations of the traditional lullabies that are impressionistic interpretations.

This program is co-sponsored by the UCLA Paul I. and Hisako Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies and is presented by the National Museum in collaboration with Kodo Arts Sphere America (KASA). It is also made possible in part by grants from the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs and the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, in partnership with the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the James Irvine Foundation. For more information, contact the Japanese American National Museum at (213) 625-0414, or go to www.janm.org.