The Music of Sho Kuon
$23
- Sho Kuon, piano
- Wei-Yang Andy Lin, erhu
- Yuko Tsuda Manabe, soprano
- Edward W. Hardy, violin
- Yoshiaki Okawa, koto
- Greg Pattillo, flute
- Seizan Fukuda, shakuhachi
- Lee Eika, voice
- Raphael Torn, percussion
- Japan Choral Harmony
Featuring pieces for piano, violin, voice, koto, erhu and shakuhachi, pianist Sho Kuon brings a new musical perspective to the stage through eclectic instrumental arrangements and different performative approaches. Kuon plays with various musical colors, textures, and tones that highlight the playful side of the all-Sho Kuon program.
About ARTXUEST New York Inc.
ARTXUEST New York Inc provide music and art educational services, as well as concert management services. All instructors teach in English and Japanese.
https://www.artxuest.com/About Sho Kuon, piano
Composer and pianist Sho Kuon graduated from Kyushu University (Faculty of Science), in southern part of Japan. When she was eleven, Sho Kuon was attacked by an Akita dog and her shoulders were seriously injured, which left her difficulties of movement in her shoulders and fingers. Over more than twenty years, she has been trying Qigong and other treatment measures to improve her physical problem, and she started composing original works all on her own without any formal musical education. Ever since, Sho Kuon has been endeavoring to develop unique method of piano playing which enables her to express her music world in spite of the shoulder and finger difficulties. One can recognize the effect of this method by listening to the way her fingers touch the keyboards.
In order to achieve ideal sounds best fit to the image of each of her pieces, Sho Kuon pays particular attention to the vibration of the piano string for each sound, and also to the resonance with strings of other sound. Thus she creates unique piano sounds found nowhere else, with a rich and original note which leads her listeners to her own musical world.
Sho Kuon's concerts are characterized by a spark contrast between her serious piano performances and the hilarious talks she likes to make during her live shows. Many of her works, with her performance many call "singing piano," have mesmerizing poetic sentiment, and loved by all generations, from small children to senior citizens. Her repertoire also includes very dynamic pieces, which drives, with her personal groove, the audience into full excitement. Most of those who come to her concert for the first time are surprised by the quality of her works and uniqueness of her way of performance. Sho Kuon has so far published four CDs, which are not limited to piano solos but also include ensemble with various instruments such as Chinese fiddle, violin, female vocal (soprano), and/or chorus. Listening to her works featuring all these is a real experience.
Sho Kuon likes joking "more than three meals of a day," according to a traditional Japanese expression.
Her name Sho Kuon (pronounced "koo, on, show") is a combination of Chinese characters 空(sky), 音(sound), and 唱(to sing).
About Wei-Yang Andy Lin, erhu
About Yuko Tsuda Manabe, soprano
About Edward W. Hardy, violin
Edward W. Hardy (born January 12, 1992) is a critically acclaimed Black and Puerto Rican composer, music director, virtuoso violinist and violist and is one of the foremost exponents of solo violin repertoire for theatrical productions. At the age of 25, "Hardy (was) one of the youngest composers to ever be accepted into the Exploring the Metropolis Con Edison Composer Residency and one of the most prominent composer/ violinists in New York City" – BroadwayWorld. "Edward W. Hardy, who composed the omnipresent music, plays the violin superbly." – The New York Times. He has "Vigor, Control And Expressiveness." – The Post and Courier. Hardy is "Mesmerizing" – Manhattan With A Twist and also performs in a style that is "serene, dreamy, and soulful with velvety panache" – The Millbrook Independent. As the composer, music director and violinist of the smash hit Off-Broadway show The Woodsman Hardy's show was a recipient of the 2016 Obie Award, the 2014 Jim Henson Foundation Grant and was broadcast on PBS stations four separate times, streamed on BroadwayHD and major music producer Jim McElwaine produced Hardy's album The Woodsman Original Off-Broadway Solo Recording, which continues to be sold and streamed in countries such as the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Russia, Turkey, France, Hong Kong, Argentina, Ireland, and Germany.
Currently, Edward's discography contains 8 singles, 1 album, and his list of original compositions include works for solo violin, voice, harp, piano, string quartet, string trio, string duo, Latin ensemble, and soundtracks for film and stage. Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts commissioned Edward's song cycle, BORN FREE (Sorrow Home, Lineage, The Struggle Staggers Us, and Southern Song) and premiered the work as part of their 2022 UNTRAPPED series. Also in 2022, Edward's Latin piece Flying – Dancing in Spanish Harlem was performed by Jazz legend Andre Hayward and his band, along with Edward, at the Austin Chamber Music Festival.
Edward has received numerous awards, most recently winning 1st Prize in the 2022 University of Northern Colorado Concerto Competition and 2nd Prize in the 2022 Angie Southard Performance Competition. Edward also has an extensive performance history ranging from solo violin performances for the Congressional Black Caucus/ opening of the African-American Smithsonian Museum, Hublot, MAC Cosmetics, Haute Living, special performances for rap legends 50 Cent, Nas, Justin Bieber, Hailey Bieber, Usher, Russell Westbrook, Kehlani, and legendary hockey player Alexander Ovechkin, to sharing the stage with famous artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Maxim Vengerov, Kygo, André De Shields, Damien Sneed, Regina Carter, Norm Lewis, Joshua Bell, John Blake Jr., Mark O'Connor, Radmila Lolly, Graham Reynolds, the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Jeffrey Zeigler, Sandbox Percussion, and the Attacca Quartet. Performance venues include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, WQXR, The Greene Space, The Apollo Theater, Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Museum of Natural History, Charleston Museum, The Cutting Room, The Public Theater's Joe's Pub, Amanyara, and many others.
Edward is a proud member of Local 802 Musicians Union, Dramatist Guild of America, ASCAP, and is affiliated with the American Composers Orchestra, the Sphinx Organization, Exploring the Metropolis, and the Gateways Music Festival. He is also the founder and artistic director of the Omnipresent Music Festival – BIPOC Musicians Festival, the digital marketing director and artistic advisor of Beethoven in the Rockies: Concert Series, and the senior director of operations and co-founder of the Northern Colorado Center for Arts Entrepreneurship. Master of Music, Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College CUNY, cum laude, Bachelor of Music, SUNY Purchase, cum laude. Edward is a doctoral candidate/graduate instructor in violin performance at the University of Northern Colorado under the mentorship of Dr. Jubal Fulks.
https://www.edwardwhardy.com/About Greg Pattillo, flute
Greg Pattillo is recognized throughout the world for his redefinition of the flute sound. Greg was lauded by the New York Times as "the best person in the world at what he does." His groundbreaking performance videos on Youtube, showcasing "beatbox flute", have been viewed more then 50 million times.
As an internationally acclaimed performer, educator, and clinician, Greg can be found both on the concert stage and on the streets, subways, and parks, sharing and preaching his sound. After earning his Masters degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, Greg found work as at the acting principal flute of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and became a founding member of the Collaborative Arts Insurgency in San Francisco.
Mr. Pattillo is originally from Seattle (where he was a winner of the Seattle Flute Society's Horsfall Competition) and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, where he performs with PROJECT Trio, an ensemble of genre bending bending performers emerging from classical music roots.
http://www.pattillostyle.com/