The University of Iowa School of Music, the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, and International Programs will host a performance by the Masa Ishikawa Jazz Orchestra on Saturday, February 22, 2020, at 7:30 p.m. in the School of Music Recital Hall.

The Masa Ishikawa Jazz Orchestra, a 17-piece jazz ensemble, will present Mujo Suite, an original jazz big band composition written by Masa Ishikawa. The music features Eien Hunter-Ishikawa on taiko-drums and shinobue (Japanese transverse flute). The performance will be dedicated to the victims of Japan’s 2011 tsunami and earthquakes as well as to those who lost their lives in natural disasters around the world.

Masa Ishikawa is a pianist, composer, and educator currently serving as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Iowa, where he teaches beginning jazz improvisation, and jazz composition/arranging, applied jazz improvisation and directs the Johnson County Landmark, a flagship large jazz ensemble. In 2019, Ishikawa released his first jazz studio album titled Dialogue, which consists of ten original compositions written for vibraphone, piano/keyboards, acoustic bass/ electric bass and drums.

Eien Hunter-Ishikawa is a musician and educator based in Portland, Oregon, specializing in drumset, taiko, percussion, and shinobue. He earned his Master of Music at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. During his time in Honolulu, Eien performed and toured extensively as a member of the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble throughout the United States and Europe and taught classes at the Taiko Center of the Pacific, a school of traditional and contemporary taiko.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events.  If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the School of Music in advance at music@uiowa.edu or (319) 335-1603.