Tenri Gagaku Music Society of New York Plays at the American Museum of Natural History

On January 17, the Tenri Gagaku Music Society of New York (led by Mrs. Louise Sasaki) performed in a concert at the American Museum of Natural History. The society was founded in 1977 and comprises Tenrikyo followers living in the area and students learning gagaku (Japanese court music) at Columbia University. The Society performs periodically at festivals, museums, and libraries in the Tri-State area. The American Museum of Natural History was founded in 1869 and is renowned worldwide for its dinosaur fossils and large exhibitions.

The Tenri Gagaku Music Society of New York’s concert at the American Museum of Natural History was part of “Living in America: Voices of the Silk Road,” which was held in conjunction with an ongoing exhibition entitled “Traveling the Silk Road.” The concert was made possible through a series of exchanges between Tenrikyo Mission New York Center and Mr. Kaoru Watanabe, a professional fue (flute) and taiko (drum) player.

The concert was held at Kaufman Center and attended by roughly 170 people. The program consisted of five pieces, including Bato, which featured a bugaku dance with a costume that was hand-crafted by students of Oyasato High School Gagaku Ensemble (now Tenri Kyoko Gakuen High School Gagaku Ensemble). The costume was donated to Tenri Gagaku Music Society of New York seven years ago.

Tazuko Ikedo, an Oyasato High School Gagaku Ensemble alumnus who happened to be on the team that made the costume, is now a Japanese language instructor at Tenri Cultural Institute of New York and performed the dance for Bato. The mask for this same piece was handmade especially for this occasion by Masaki Takizawa, a Yoboku and artist based in New York.

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