Sawai Koto Academy in New York City

Masayo Ishigure
Sawai Koto Academy - New York

The Sawai Koto Academy is one of the most prominent academies for contemporary koto music. The aim of the academy is to shed new light on koto music by incorporating everything from Bach to jazz and thus change the koto from being thought of only as a traditional Japanese instrument into an instrument of universal expressiveness. Sawai teachers have spread out from Japan to many other locations around the world. Masayo Ishigure, student of Tadao Sawai and Kazue Sawai, represents the Sawai Koto Academy in New York City.

In addition to her accomplishments with the Sawai Koto Academy, Ms. Ishigure earned a degree in Japanese Traditional Music at Takasaki Junior Arts College with a concentration in koto and shamisen. She has taught koto and shamisen as an artist in residence in the music department of Wesleyan University. Please see Ms. Ishigure's Biography for a complete list of her accomplishments.

Performance at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in NY

Masayo Ishigure (orange kimono) and some students of
the New York Sawai Koto Academy

I am a three-year-old Koto Player!! \(^_^)/

Koto lessons are available from Ms. Ishigure in the New York metropolitan area. Students learn koto techniques and the repertoire of the Sawai Koto Academy. Students may study the traditional 13-string koto and the 17-string bass koto. Opportunities for performance are also available to all students.

To arrange lessons, please contact Masayo Ishigure at
masayo-koto@worldnet.att.net.

"HIBIKI - A Celebration of Japan's Musical Heritage" at Fermilab, Batavia, IL
Sawai Koto Academy USA Members

"Kiku" festival, New York Botanical Garden

MetLife Building luch time concert

Sakura Matsuri (2003)

Sawai Koto Academy students in New York with Hikaru Sawai, Kazue Sawai and Masao Ishigure.

Sawai Koto Academy students in New York with Hikaru Sawai (blond hair),
Kazue Sawai (red scarf), and Masao Ishigure (red hair)

Sakura Matsuri (2002)

Shea Stadium Performance (Asian Night) in 2001

Sakura Matsuri in 2005