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$20 general admission
Students free (ticket required)

Mead Witter School of Music Guest Artist Series

Interwoven Ensemble
Yoko Reikano Kimura, koto/shamisen/voice
Keiko Tokunaga, violin
Hikaru Tamaki, cello
Andy Lin, erhu/viola

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Pioneers of intercultural music that interlaces historic sonorities of Eastern Asia and Western Europe, INTERWOVEN is currently in its fourth season as a chamber ensemble. Taking inspiration from its birthplace, New York City, where countless cultures coexist and thrive, INTERWOVEN celebrates and integrates traditions, aesthetics and communities from various heritages through performing, commissioning, and recording contemporary music.

The ensemble made its debut in October 2021 at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York City, with the funding from the City Artist Corps Grant. The group has since appeared in venues such as Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, Metropolitan Museum in New York City, Wing Luke Museum in Seattle, Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn and Vancouver Civic Centre Annex, among others.

INTERWOVEN’s artistic goal is to see evidence of traditional Asian instruments or their sonority included in classical contemporary compositions and an increase in commissioning and performance of multicultural works written by diverse composers. The ensemble promotes the creation of new intercultural music by educating the young composers in universities and by commissioning from established composers who resonate with our beliefs. INTERWOVEN served as a guest artist-in-residence at the University of California Los Angeles, Toronto University, Longy School of Music in Massachusetts, University of Kansas and Colby College in Maine, working closely with composition and instrumental departments of the school.

The group is committed to introducing the sonority of traditional Asian music, instruments, history and culture to various American communities of non-Asian heritages. The ensemble received two major fundings for its original community project, FantAsia!, from Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in New York City and Canada Council for the Arts in 2023; FantAsia! is a musical event of an Asian folklore-inspired program that takes place in neighborhoods with the smallest Asian population in all boroughs of New York City and Vancouver, BC.

Founder and GRAMMY Award winning violinist, Keiko Tokunaga, brings together seasoned musicians who have been heard in major halls, such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Radio City Music Hall, and their equivalents in Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. Members of INTERWOVEN are passionate advocates for the importance of music in social, personal, and political developments, and devote much of their time to teaching and educational outreach. The ensemble collaborates with educational institutions to promote the creations of multicultural musical compositions, and to encourage active dialogues between students, faculty and the community on socially crucial topics such as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the music field and beyond.