Michiyo Yagi
Michiyo Yagi
Koto player Michiyo Yagi was born in Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture and studied with Satomi Kurauchi, ,Tadao Sawai and Kazue Sawai. She began performing professionally in the latter half of the 1980’s. During her tenure as Visiting Professor of Music at Wesleyan University in the USA, she premiered numerous modern compositions for koto and was influenced by composers such as John Cage and John Zorn. Her most recent recordings include Seventeen , an album of original compositions entirely played on the 17-string bass koto. Says her husband and producer Mark E. Rappaport: “Keeping in mind that the koto may be extinct in a hundred years’ time, it’s important that Michiyo play her own music, and I believe she’s quite aware of that. After having done quite a lot of different things in the past, she’s now on the verge of combining diverse elements into a unique music of her very own.” Yagi is planning to release three to four CDs between July 2006 and next spring.