Mika Takehara has established herself as a soloist, performing frequently in Sweden, Japan, and across Europe, and is associated with the Saito Kinen Orchestra under maestro Seiji Ozawa.
Performer Biography
Mika Takehara graduated from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm with the highest honors in 2001, performing her diploma concert with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Akira Miyoshi, a composer and principal of Toho Gakuen College of Music, advised his students to spend more time analyzing a piece and the composer's intentions than practicing their instrument.
Performer Biography
Mika Takehara studied at the Toho Gakuen College of Music in Tokyo, where her teachers included the marimba virtuoso Keiko Abe.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The title "Johali" is a word coined by composer Hideki Kozakura, combining the Chinese proverb "schuhali" (artist's growth process) and the gagaku musical term "johakyu" (music increasing in tempo).
Compositional Technique
Hideki Kozakura's "Johali" is based on Japanese traditional music called gagaku and the religious music of the Shinto ritual, incorporating a typical gagaku rhythm in its second part.
Performer Biography
Mika Takehara, the percussionist on this album, decided to move to Sweden to study after being impressed by the Kroumata Percussion Ensemble performing with her teacher Keiko Abe in Tokyo.
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