Wesleyan East Asian Music Ensembles

Wesleyan Chinese Music Ensemble

There have been a number of Chinese music ensembles at Wesleyan starting from the early 1980's, instructed by Music Department’s graduate students. Since 2002, for the first time, Wesleyan’s Chinese music ensemble has been led by a distinguished musician from China, who now lives in New York City. The current ensemble has come a long way. In Fall 2000, Levi Gibbs, '02, an East Asian Studies major, returned from Shanghai Conservatory, China, where he studied Chinese language, music and erhu performance. In searching the opportunity to continue his erhu lessons, Levi was introduced to Wang Guowei, an erhu master from Shanghai National Music Orchestra, by Professor Su Zheng of the Music Department. In Spring 2001, Professor Su Zheng, then Chair of Wesleyan's Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, invited Wang Guowei and Susan Cheng, founder of the New York-based ensemble Music From China, to give a lecture/demonstration at the Center. The following year, Levi organized a Student Forum to study and play Chinese music, Professor Su Zheng was the Faculty Advisor and Wang Guowei began to visit Wesleyan as a private lesson teacher. Wang appeared as a guest artist and the director of the ensemble at the student concert in Spring 2002. Beginning from Fall 2002, with the collaborative effort of the Center for East Asian Studies and Music Department, Wang Guowei began to offer the Chinese music ensemble course in addition to private lessons. The ensemble course is cross-listed with Music Department and East Asian Studies. Since then, Chinese music concerts have been held regularly on campus. Starting from Fall 2007, Chinese music ensemble course has been funded by the Center for East Asian Studies.

Wesleyan Chinese Music Ensemble is an active music group. Students from diverse backgrounds participate in the ensemble and their concerts attract audience from both Wesleyan and the larger communities. Also, through its special connection with Music From China, Wesleyan Chinese Music Ensemble offers a rare opportunity for its audience to experience a wide range of Chinese music genres. In the future, Chinese Music Ensemble will keep expanding its repertoires, sharing both traditional and contemporary Chinese music with its friends.

Wang Guowei, Artistic Director & Conductor

Wang Guowei studied at the Shanghai Conservatory and was former concertmaster and erhu soloist of the Shanghai Traditional Orchestra. He has toured Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Belgium, Canada, Australia, England, and Italy. He has performed with the Virginia Symphony, New Music Consort, Norfolk Chamber Consort, Ethos Percussion Group, Yo-Yo Ma, Ornette Coleman Trio, Butch Morris, Cassatt String Quartet, Ying Quartet, among others. Mr. Wang is Artistic Director of Music From China and teaches Chinese music at Wesleyan University.

Wesleyan Japanese Music Program and Wesleyan Taiko Ensemble

Wesleyan has a long tradition in Japanese koto, shakuhachi, and shamisen and vocal music. The first group (1967-68) of Japanese musicians and scholars at Wesleyan included Visiting Artists in Residence: Yamaguchi Goro, who taught private lessons in shakuhachi, and his wife Namino Torii, who taught koto, shamisen and voice; Koizumi Fumio, a Visiting Professor from Japan; as Gen'ichi Tsuge, a graduate student from Japan working on Iranian music and also knew Japanese traditional music, who stayed on as teaching associate and instrument curator. Tsuge taught Japanese music courses and purchased Japanese instruments for the Musical Instrument Collection and became the mediator for bringing several outstanding visiting artists to teach koto, shakuhachi, and shamisen. Because of the opportunity to study with great masters here, many Wesleyan students became involved in study and performance of Japanese music. Some MA and PhD theses were written on Japanese music topics during this period. Tsuge finished his PhD degree and returned to Japan in 1975 and during a university cutback, the artist in residence positions in Japanese music were lost as well.

In the mid-1980s, Kazue Sawai, leading avant-garde Kotoist and koto educator, visited Wesleyan, expressed her enthusiasm to introduce some koto teachers and brought back koto music to Wesleyan. She also offered some instruments for Wesleyan. Later, Music Department started anew to invite Japanese visiting artists here, who taught in the private lessons program. First Michiyo Yagi (1989-1990) and Miki Maruta (1990-1991), then, since 1992, Masayo Ishigure, who formed the Wesleyan Koto Ensemble and offers both koto and shamisen lessons.

In 2006, a new initiative of Japanese music took place. Sarah Elmaleh, '06, who briefly experienced learning taiko during her time spent in Japan, felt there couldn't be e better academic home for this exuberant, powerful and highly accessable art form, knowing the strength and wide appeal of Wesleyan's world music offerings. After a semester and summer of exploring, searching for instructor and grant hunting, Sarah got in touch with Mark H. Rooney, Assistant Director of Boston's Odaiko New England, and obtained a generous grant from Wesleyan's Freeman Asian/Asian American Studies Initiatives which supported the Introduction to Taiko Student Foryum (2006-07) designed and led by Sarah. Professor Su Zheng served as Faculty Advisor, and Mark Rooney, who drove four hours each week to Wesleyan, was the passionate guest instructor. With two successful end-of-semester recitals and a popular appearance at Mabuhay under the ensemble's belt, Professor Su Zheng campaigned and successfully obtained the Music Department's commitment (then chaired by Sumarsam) in funding the taiko ensemble as a regularly offered course beginning from fall 2007.

Masayo Ishigure, Instructor
Masayo Ishigure, a native of Gifu, Japan, began learning the koto at a very young age and later apprenticed under Tadao and Kazue Sawai, masters of modern school of koto music. Since her arrival in New York in 1992, Ms. Ishigure has appeared in concerts at the Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, The Japan Society, and various museums. She has also performed at a number of universities, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and many other venues. In the spring of 1999 and 2003 she gave recitals of new and traditional koto and shamisen music at the Greenwich House School of Music. Ms. Ishigure has toured in France, Switzerland, as well as in Hawaii, Alaska, and many other locations throughout the United States. She was invited to play with the San Diego Orchestra, and has performed with the New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Peter Boal on several occasions. She is also a guest performer with taiko-za, a Japanese traditional drum, dance, and koto group. She has recorded music for the 1998 Nagano Olympics, American TV commercials, and a local New York City TV station. She has appeared on several CDs. In 2001 she recorded her first solo CD, “Grace.”

Ms. Ishigure has taught Japanese music at Wesleyan for 12 years and is the leader of the New York branch of the Sawai Koto Academy. She performs several concerts yearly with her students. They have given concerts at the Asia Society in New York, the Japan Society in New York, Freer Gallery in Washington DC, Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the New York Mets “Asian Night at Shea Stadium.”

Mark H Rooney is the Assistant Director of Odaiko New England, a taiko group based in Boston. He has been playing taiko since 1998, and is a member of numerous taiko groups in both the U.S. and Japan, including Taikoza, New York and Shippu Uchi Daiko, Wakayama, Japan. Mark has taught and performed taiko in Japan, the U.S. and Europe.

Wesleyan Korean Drumming Ensemble

Wesleyan Korean Drumming Ensemble is among one of the few Korean drumming ensemble courses offered in U.S. colleges. Initiated by Joo Im Moon, '03, a Freeman Asian Scholar from South Korea, the ensemble started as an informal student group in 2001. Joo Im had some p'ungmulnori lessons in Korea before coming to Wesleyan and became the instructor for the group. The informal student group met with great enthusiasm from Wesleyan students. One year later, Joo Im acquired the support from the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies and brought back a few musical instruments from Korea. She then formed the Samulnori Student Forum in Fall 2002, with Professor Su Zheng, then the Chair of the East Asian Studies Program, as Faculty advisor. Total of 15 students signed up for the class, which not only practiced drumming, but also studied the cultural roots of samulnori. Joo Im invited her teacher, Sang-min Yook, a Korean drumming musician living in New York City and the founder and artistic director of Nori Company, to give the group further instructions. Quickly, the drumming ensemble became very popular on campus; its concerts took place at the end of every semester. It also provided accompaniment for Joo Im’s honor thesis/concert project in Spring 2003.

Committed to keep the ensemble going, after graduation Joo Im searched and was successfully awarded a two-year grant from Korean Cultural Service New York, which created the opportunity for Sang-min Yook to teach both private lessons and the ensemble at Wesleyan. The Korean Drumming Ensemble was officially established in Fall 2003 and 15 students joined the ensemble. The number quickly rose to 25 in the spring semester. With further support from the Center for East Asian Studies under the direction of Professor Steve Angle, the ensemble purchased more instruments from Korea and is now able to accommodate students’ demand. After the initial two years, Professor Su Zheng secured another two-year period grant for the ensemble from Wesleyan's Freeman Asian/Asian American Studies Initiatives. Inspring 2007, Professor Su Zheng obtained the important commitment of the Music Department (then chaired by Professor Sumarsam) in funding the Korean drumming ensemble as a regularly offered course beginning from fall 2007.

In the past years, Sang-min Yook’s Nori Company made several special appearances at Wesleyan, performed together with the Wesleyan ensemble. In 2004, members of the Wesleyan ensemble received workshops from Master Kim Duk Soo, founder and creator of the famous Samulnori from South Korea; they also participated in Nori Company’s performances in New York. The ensemble’s performances have drawn a large crowd from Wesleyan and beyond. Nowadays, Wesleyan Korean Drumming Ensemble is one of the most popular ensembles at Wesleyan.

Sang-min Yook, Director
Sang-min Yook is the founder and artistic director of Nori Company. Master drummer and dancer, Sang-min Yook was born in South Korea. During his youth, his passion for various Korean art forms took him on a twenty-year journey throughout the country studying sculpture, woodcarving, calligraphy, sundo (Korean yoga), martial arts and p’ungmulnori. He immigrated to the United States in 1985 to pursue his dream of bringing the p’ungmulnori tradition to a brand new audience. Master Yook has been teaching students from diverse cultural backgrounds to further enrich this traditional art.

Wesleyan \| CFA \| Music Department \| FEAS \| East Asian Studies Program
East Asian Music at Wesleyan
Ensembles	East Asian Music Ensembles Coordinator: Professor Su Zheng skip to: top \| Japanese Music Program \| Korean Drumming Ensemble Wesleyan Chinese Music Ensemble There have been a number of Chinese music ensembles at Wesleyan starting from the early 1980's, instructed by Music Department’s graduate students. Since 2002, for the first time, Wesleyan’s Chinese music ensemble has been led by a distinguished musician from China, who now lives in New York City. The current ensemble has come a long way. In Fall 2000, Levi Gibbs, '02, an East Asian Studies major, returned from Shanghai Conservatory, China, where he studied Chinese language, music and erhu performance. In searching the opportunity to continue his erhu lessons, Levi was introduced to Wang Guowei, an erhu master from Shanghai National Music Orchestra, by Professor Su Zheng of the Music Department. In Spring 2001, Professor Su Zheng, then Chair of Wesleyan's Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, invited Wang Guowei and Susan Cheng, founder of the New York-based ensemble Music From China, to give a lecture/demonstration at the Center. The following year, Levi organized a Student Forum to study and play Chinese music, Professor Su Zheng was the Faculty Advisor and Wang Guowei began to visit Wesleyan as a private lesson teacher. Wang appeared as a guest artist and the director of the ensemble at the student concert in Spring 2002. Beginning from Fall 2002, with the collaborative effort of the Center for East Asian Studies and Music Department, Wang Guowei began to offer the Chinese music ensemble course in addition to private lessons. The ensemble course is cross-listed with Music Department and East Asian Studies. Since then, Chinese music concerts have been held regularly on campus. Starting from Fall 2007, Chinese music ensemble course has been funded by the Center for East Asian Studies. Wesleyan Chinese Music Ensemble is an active music group. Students from diverse backgrounds participate in the ensemble and their concerts attract audience from both Wesleyan and the larger communities. Also, through its special connection with Music From China, Wesleyan Chinese Music Ensemble offers a rare opportunity for its audience to experience a wide range of Chinese music genres. In the future, Chinese Music Ensemble will keep expanding its repertoires, sharing both traditional and contemporary Chinese music with its friends. Wang Guowei, Artistic Director & Conductor Wang Guowei studied at the Shanghai Conservatory and was former concertmaster and erhu soloist of the Shanghai Traditional Orchestra. He has toured Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Belgium, Canada, Australia, England, and Italy. He has performed with the Virginia Symphony, New Music Consort, Norfolk Chamber Consort, Ethos Percussion Group, Yo-Yo Ma, Ornette Coleman Trio, Butch Morris, Cassatt String Quartet, Ying Quartet, among others. Mr. Wang is Artistic Director of Music From China and teaches Chinese music at Wesleyan University. skip to: top \| Chinese Music Ensemble\| Korean Drumming Ensemble Wesleyan Japanese Music Program and Wesleyan Taiko Ensemble Wesleyan has a long tradition in Japanese koto, shakuhachi, and shamisen and vocal music. The first group (1967-68) of Japanese musicians and scholars at Wesleyan included Visiting Artists in Residence: Yamaguchi Goro, who taught private lessons in shakuhachi, and his wife Namino Torii, who taught koto, shamisen and voice; Koizumi Fumio, a Visiting Professor from Japan; as Gen'ichi Tsuge, a graduate student from Japan working on Iranian music and also knew Japanese traditional music, who stayed on as teaching associate and instrument curator. Tsuge taught Japanese music courses and purchased Japanese instruments for the Musical Instrument Collection and became the mediator for bringing several outstanding visiting artists to teach koto, shakuhachi, and shamisen. Because of the opportunity to study with great masters here, many Wesleyan students became involved in study and performance of Japanese music. Some MA and PhD theses were written on Japanese music topics during this period. Tsuge finished his PhD degree and returned to Japan in 1975 and during a university cutback, the artist in residence positions in Japanese music were lost as well. In the mid-1980s, Kazue Sawai, leading avant-garde Kotoist and koto educator, visited Wesleyan, expressed her enthusiasm to introduce some koto teachers and brought back koto music to Wesleyan. She also offered some instruments for Wesleyan. Later, Music Department started anew to invite Japanese visiting artists here, who taught in the private lessons program. First Michiyo Yagi (1989-1990) and Miki Maruta (1990-1991), then, since 1992, Masayo Ishigure, who formed the Wesleyan Koto Ensemble and offers both koto and shamisen lessons. In 2006, a new initiative of Japanese music took place. Sarah Elmaleh, '06, who briefly experienced learning taiko during her time spent in Japan, felt there couldn't be e better academic home for this exuberant, powerful and highly accessable art form, knowing the strength and wide appeal of Wesleyan's world music offerings. After a semester and summer of exploring, searching for instructor and grant hunting, Sarah got in touch with Mark H. Rooney, Assistant Director of Boston's Odaiko New England, and obtained a generous grant from Wesleyan's Freeman Asian/Asian American Studies Initiatives which supported the Introduction to Taiko Student Foryum (2006-07) designed and led by Sarah. Professor Su Zheng served as Faculty Advisor, and Mark Rooney, who drove four hours each week to Wesleyan, was the passionate guest instructor. With two successful end-of-semester recitals and a popular appearance at Mabuhay under the ensemble's belt, Professor Su Zheng campaigned and successfully obtained the Music Department's commitment (then chaired by Sumarsam) in funding the taiko ensemble as a regularly offered course beginning from fall 2007. Masayo Ishigure, Instructor Masayo Ishigure, a native of Gifu, Japan, began learning the koto at a very young age and later apprenticed under Tadao and Kazue Sawai, masters of modern school of koto music. Since her arrival in New York in 1992, Ms. Ishigure has appeared in concerts at the Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, The Japan Society, and various museums. She has also performed at a number of universities, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and many other venues. In the spring of 1999 and 2003 she gave recitals of new and traditional koto and shamisen music at the Greenwich House School of Music. Ms. Ishigure has toured in France, Switzerland, as well as in Hawaii, Alaska, and many other locations throughout the United States. She was invited to play with the San Diego Orchestra, and has performed with the New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Peter Boal on several occasions. She is also a guest performer with taiko-za, a Japanese traditional drum, dance, and koto group. She has recorded music for the 1998 Nagano Olympics, American TV commercials, and a local New York City TV station. She has appeared on several CDs. In 2001 she recorded her first solo CD, “Grace.” Ms. Ishigure has taught Japanese music at Wesleyan for 12 years and is the leader of the New York branch of the Sawai Koto Academy. She performs several concerts yearly with her students. They have given concerts at the Asia Society in New York, the Japan Society in New York, Freer Gallery in Washington DC, Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the New York Mets “Asian Night at Shea Stadium.” Mark H. Rooney, Director of Wesleyan Taiko Ensemble Mark H Rooney is the Assistant Director of Odaiko New England, a taiko group based in Boston. He has been playing taiko since 1998, and is a member of numerous taiko groups in both the U.S. and Japan, including Taikoza, New York and Shippu Uchi Daiko, Wakayama, Japan. Mark has taught and performed taiko in Japan, the U.S. and Europe. skip to: top \| Chinese Music Ensemble\| Japanese Music Program Wesleyan Korean Drumming Ensemble Wesleyan Korean Drumming Ensemble is among one of the few Korean drumming ensemble courses offered in U.S. colleges. Initiated by Joo Im Moon, '03, a Freeman Asian Scholar from South Korea, the ensemble started as an informal student group in 2001. Joo Im had some p'ungmulnori lessons in Korea before coming to Wesleyan and became the instructor for the group. The informal student group met with great enthusiasm from Wesleyan students. One year later, Joo Im acquired the support from the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies and brought back a few musical instruments from Korea. She then formed the Samulnori Student Forum in Fall 2002, with Professor Su Zheng, then the Chair of the East Asian Studies Program, as Faculty advisor. Total of 15 students signed up for the class, which not only practiced drumming, but also studied the cultural roots of samulnori. Joo Im invited her teacher, Sang-min Yook, a Korean drumming musician living in New York City and the founder and artistic director of Nori Company, to give the group further instructions. Quickly, the drumming ensemble became very popular on campus; its concerts took place at the end of every semester. It also provided accompaniment for Joo Im’s honor thesis/concert project in Spring 2003. Committed to keep the ensemble going, after graduation Joo Im searched and was successfully awarded a two-year grant from Korean Cultural Service New York, which created the opportunity for Sang-min Yook to teach both private lessons and the ensemble at Wesleyan. The Korean Drumming Ensemble was officially established in Fall 2003 and 15 students joined the ensemble. The number quickly rose to 25 in the spring semester. With further support from the Center for East Asian Studies under the direction of Professor Steve Angle, the ensemble purchased more instruments from Korea and is now able to accommodate students’ demand. After the initial two years, Professor Su Zheng secured another two-year period grant for the ensemble from Wesleyan's Freeman Asian/Asian American Studies Initiatives. Inspring 2007, Professor Su Zheng obtained the important commitment of the Music Department (then chaired by Professor Sumarsam) in funding the Korean drumming ensemble as a regularly offered course beginning from fall 2007. In the past years, Sang-min Yook’s Nori Company made several special appearances at Wesleyan, performed together with the Wesleyan ensemble. In 2004, members of the Wesleyan ensemble received workshops from Master Kim Duk Soo, founder and creator of the famous Samulnori from South Korea; they also participated in Nori Company’s performances in New York. The ensemble’s performances have drawn a large crowd from Wesleyan and beyond. Nowadays, Wesleyan Korean Drumming Ensemble is one of the most popular ensembles at Wesleyan. Sang-min Yook, Director Sang-min Yook is the founder and artistic director of Nori Company. Master drummer and dancer, Sang-min Yook was born in South Korea. During his youth, his passion for various Korean art forms took him on a twenty-year journey throughout the country studying sculpture, woodcarving, calligraphy, sundo (Korean yoga), martial arts and p’ungmulnori. He immigrated to the United States in 1985 to pursue his dream of bringing the p’ungmulnori tradition to a brand new audience. Master Yook has been teaching students from diverse cultural backgrounds to further enrich this traditional art. skip to: top \| Chinese Music Ensemble\| Korean Drumming Ensemble \| Japanese Music Program
Course List
Scholarship

East Asian Music at Wesleyan

Ensembles

East Asian Music Ensembles Coordinator: Professor Su Zheng

Course List

Scholarship

East Asian Music Ensembles
Coordinator: Professor Su Zheng