Utari Percussion Duo - featuring sisters Haruka Fujii and Rika Fujii

Program

Elliot Cole: Postlude VIII

Tōru Takemitsu: Cross Hatch

Akira Miyoshi: Etude Concertante

Yasuo Sueyoshi: Mirage

Hiroto Kobayashi: For two, for Utari [US Premiere]*

Haruka Fujii: Small Chat [World Premiere]*

Chris Kapica: Aetherium*

Chris P. Thompson: Marking Time*

Elliot Cole: Postlude VI

* Written for Utari Percussion Duo

About the Artists

UTARI is a percussion duo project by sisters Haruka Fujii – a percussionist of the Grammy Award winning Silkroad Ensemble, based in San Francisco Bay Area – and Rika Fujii – multi percussionist in Tokyo known for her performances in solo, chamber music, orchestra and the female Taiko group Hono Daiko. Utari’s passion for Japanese modern percussion music has led them to tour internationally for the past fifteen years. Following the path of their mother Mutsuko Fujii, noted marimbist of Japan, they have been introducing Japanese percussion works at major venues in the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, and Taiwan. Recent appearances include a New York recital at Lincoln Center, a concert at Koerner Hall in Toronto, and showcase performances at the PASIC percussion convention. Utari’s mission is to introduce audiences to master works which are not known outside of Japan, many of which are written for and dedicated to Mutsuko Fujii by luminary composers Maki Ishii, Akira Miyoshi, Isao Matsushita and Akira Nishimura. In addition to music from Japan’s “golden age” of modern music, Utari actively works with and performs music by young composers who are defining the sound of the current generation.

Haruka Fujii has won international acclaim as a solo percussionist for her interpretations of contemporary music, having performed premieres of works from composers including Tan Dun, Nico Muhly, Joji Yuasa, and Maki Ishii. She has appeared in major venues across the world as a soloist, as well as chamber musician with Silkroad Ensemble founded by Yo-Yo Ma, NY based quartet Line C3 Percussion Group, and The Fujii Trio. She has recently joined the percussion faculty at San Francisco Conservatory of Music and has been a frequent guest instructor at Juilliard Summer Percussion Seminar and several international percussion festivals. More information: www.harukafujii.com

Rika Fujii is an active percussionist based in Tokyo, Japan. She performs frequently in orchestral and chamber music settings as well as in traditional Japanese taiko drumming concerts with the first female taiko group Hono-O-daiko. She has performed internationally, including appearances at Carnegie Hall in New York, New Zealand International Arts Festival, and the Japanese Consulate in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms. Fujii is a faculty member of the Toho Gakuen School of Music.