Michiyo Yagi

Michiyo Yagi (Moers 2011)

Michiyo Yagi ( Japanese 八木美知依 , Yagi Michiyo ; * 1962 in Tokoname , Aichi Prefecture ) is a Japanese koto player who has made a name for herself in Europe, especially in the field of new improvisation music.

Act

Yagi learned the Japanese zither instrument from the age of six. After completing her first degree at Aichi Junior College, she enrolled in the courses at NHK to receive deeper training as a koto player with Tadao Sawai, Kazue Sawai and Satomi Kurauchi until her graduation in 1986. With the Sawai Tadao Ensemble she recorded the CD Koto (1988), which was awarded by the Japanese state. In 1989 and 1990 she was visiting professor at Wesleyan University , where she performed numerous modern compositions for the koto. She also worked with contemporary composers such as John Cage and John Zorn . In 1999 she released her solo album Shizuku on the Tzadik label. In 2001 she recorded the album Yural for East Works with the Koto Ensemble Paulownia Crush, with whom she was on tour in Russia in 2004 . With the group Kokoo she recorded rock tracks on traditional Japanese instruments; with Sachiko M she belonged to the avant pop band Hoahio. She also recorded with the pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki .

Internationally she has appeared at festivals such as the Vision Festival and the Bang-on-a-Can Festival in New York, the Moers Festival , the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville and at Tokyo Summer. In 2002 she played with John Zorn, Bill Laswell and drummer Hideo Yamaki in Japan. In 2006 she released the album Live! Together with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Paal Nilssen-Love , with whom she toured in Europe . at SuperDeluxe (Idiolect / Bomba). She forms a trio with Peter Brötzmann and Nilssen-Love ( Head On , Idiolect, 2008). At the Unlimited Festival in Wels she appeared with Brötzmann's Chicago Tentet and played a Concert for Fukushima ; there she also played with Okkyung Lee and Xu Fengxia ( Long Story Short ). She also played with musicians such as Mark Dresser , Akira Sakata , Fred Frith , Chris Cutler , Yoshihide Otomo , Saadet Türköz , Ned Rothenberg , Lauren Newton , Hans Reichel , Mino Cinelu , Satoko Fujii , Joëlle Léandre , Kazutoki Umezu , Carl Stone , Christian Marclay , Zeena Parkins , Masahiko Sato , Billy Bang , Keiji Haino , Jason Roebke or Steven Wilson .

Discographic notes

1999: Shizuku
2005: Seventeen
2010: Reflexions with Elliott Sharp

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Yagi, Michiyo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	八木美知依 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Japanese musician
DATE OF BIRTH	1962
PLACE OF BIRTH	Tokoname