Michiyo Yagi

Michiyo Yagi studied koto under the late Tadao Sawai and Kazue Sawai, and graduated from the NHK Professional Training School for Traditional Musicians. Between 1989 and 1990 she was Visiting Professor of Music at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, U.S.A. During her tenure she premiered numerous modern compositions for koto and came under the influence of maverick American composers such as John Cage, Conlon Nancarrow, and John Zorn.

Yagi's debut CD Shizuku was produced by Zorn and released on his Tzadik label in 1999. In 2001 she recorded Yural (BAJ/East Works) with her six-koto ensemble Paulownia Crush; this group toured Russia under the auspices of the Japan Foundation in the fall of 2004. In 2005 Yagi released Seventeen (Zipangu), entirely performed on the giant 17-string bass koto. Live! at SuperDeluxe (Idiolect/Bomba), a trio performance with Norwegians Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (contrabass) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums), followed a year later. In 2008 Rikskonsertene, the national concert institute of Norway, sponsored a ten-city tour by the trio of Michiyo Yagi, the German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, and Paal Nilssen-Love, a group that has been touring internationally since 2006. Yagi's most recent CD's Head On (Idiolect, 2008) and Volda (Idiolect/Bomba, 2010), both feature this trio. Yagi also leads the Tokyo-based Michiyo Yagi Double Trio.

An eclectic performer who continually challenges conventions, Yagi has performed at the Kongsberg Jazz, Moers Jazz, Punkt, Musique Actuel Victoriaville, Archipel, Bang on a Can, Tokyo Summer, Vision, Instal, and Music Unlimited festivals. Her collaborators have included Mark Dresser, John Zorn, Elliott Sharp, Jim O'Rourke, Akira Sakata, Han Bennink, Eivind Aarset, Alan Silva, Otomo Yoshihide, Ned Rothenberg, Knut Buen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Satoko Fujii, Joëlle Leandre, Håkon Kornstad, Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins), Masahiko Sato, Carl Stone, Billy Bang, Keiji Haino, Ab Baars and Sachiko M. Her koto has been featured in ex-Judy & Mary guitarist/singer Takuya's rock band, and she has recorded and performed with Ayumi Hamasaki, Japan's best-selling pop singer.

Forthcoming CD releases include a duo album with Sharp, a studio recording with Dresser and Rothenberg, and a collaboration with Eivind Aarset