Japan’s Mika Kimula Returns to Gustavus for Recital

The Department of Music at Gustavus Adolphus College is pleased to welcome Mika Kimula, teacher and performer of traditional Japanese music, to the campus for a week-long residency, March 8 – 14. This is Kimula’s second residency in the department in five years. As a finale to the residency, Kimula joins soprano Rebecca McConnaughey and pianist Yumiko Oshima-Ryan for a recital in Jussi Bjorling Recital Hall on Saturday, March 13, beginning at 7:30 p.m. This performance is part of a guest artist residency by Kimula and is sponsored by the Johnson Endowment for the Arts. It is free and open to the public.

Kimula began exploring ways to utilize the voice at the Vocal Department of the Tokyo National University of Music and Fine Arts where she studied Italian classical and modern songs and performed experimental works using Japanese words and lyrics. Her interests evolved to Twentieth Century Japanese vocal compositions and traditional Japanese singing styles such as noh chant and nagauta singing. She studied the Noguchi Taisô body awareness methods with Michizô Noguchi, who taught her how language responds to the voice and one’s inner image of the body.

Saturday’s recital will introduce Japanese songs from Taisho Period (Twentieth Century). The program includes works such as Yoimachigusa’s Evening Primrose in modern song set, Hanmyo’s The Tiger Beetle (1928) and Mai’s The Dance (1929).  Mika will also present traditional children’s songs, such as Chatsubo’s Tea Jar.

Kimula’s week-long residency on the campus includes lectures in the Music of World Cutures class, voice master’s classes, private voice instruction and work in the Department of Modern Foreign Languages with students in the Japanese Studies area. Funding for the residency is provided by the Johnson Endowment for the Arts at Gustavus.

Please note that the date and time of the recital have changed to Saturday, March 13, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The performance is free and will be followed by a reception for the performers in the recital hall lobby.