KIYOSHI NAGATA
Kiyoshi Nagata, the professional taiko ensemble; NAGATA SHACHU's artistic director, is Canada's preeminent taiko soloist who has been performing in a career that spans twenty-seven years. He is my taiko teacher, my music partner, ten ten supporter, a good adviser and my very best friend. I couldn’t have had my music career here if I hadn’t met him.
BAA
My grandmother, on the other hand, who was a widowed nanny had no family, no education and smoked over 70 years until she died at the age of 86. Her voice was hoarse and barely audible…and yet she loved to sing and talk. I enjoyed listening and watching her original songs as well as singing together with her.
OE-SENSEI
My singing teacher, Master OE is one of the authorized instructor of one of the famous folk song called “ESASHI OIWAKE”. He also make and play shakuhachi (bamboo flute) and accompany his students. I have many of his shakuhachi music in a cassette tape recorder for my own practice. Before I moved to Canada, he gave me three of his plastic shakuhachi (made out from bp pipes) and his well-tuned bamboo one as gift. He is very kind and generous.
ONO-SENSEI
Ono sensei is my folk song teacher. She knows many folk songs throughout Japan.
NISHIKAWA-SENSEI
Nishikawa sensei taught me shamisen
CHRISTINE DUNCAN
A musical chameleon with a near five octave range, Christine Duncan uses her voice as an instrument, exploring its full tonal, timbral and textural range. I learned how to use my voice and improvise in choir.
SUBA
I took her south Indian classical singing class. I learned scales/modes, microtonal inflections, rhythms, vocal percussion and improvisation. Suba Sankaran really knows how to create percussion sounds using the voice.
ANDREA
In Georgia culture, polyphonic singing has been preserved as a vital part of the national identity. I was able to learn beautifully haunting songs with Georgian language from Andrea Kuzmich and Shalva Makharashvili.
RAVI
Experienced the joy and precision of north indian drumming with Ravi Naimpally. I learned the basic skill of the Tabla, including knowledge in the strokes and accompanying spoken language, the rhythmic system and the structure. It was a real challenge.
