Four years ago, Japanese vocalist, teacher and performer Mika Kimula came to the Gustavus campus to give a traditional Japanese flute (Shakuhachi) performance and work with the Chapel Choir, teaching them special breathing techniques. On Monday, she returned to campus. Since then, she has had private lessons with four Gustavus students, and on Saturday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Bjorling Recital Hall, she will give another free performance—this time a vocal performance called Song Space Japan for Voice and Piano.
Kimula’s last visit to Gustavus was popular. “There was a great response [on campus],” Associate Professor of Music Yumiko Oshima-Ryan said, who is also the accompanying pianist for Saturday’s recital.
“Her concert was very beautiful,” Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Rebecca McConnaughey said, who is also an accompanying soprano for Song Space Japan.
“I met Mika 13 years ago in Pittsburgh,” Oshima-Ryan said. “She taught at Chatham College as a Fulbright Scholar. I was invited to perform at the same series as [she was]. She came to my concert.” From there, Kimula and Oshima-Ryan went out to tea and looked at Kimula’s kimono collection. “She makes her own costumes … She redesigns kimonos.”
Much like her habit of altering traditional Japanese garb, Kimula breathes new life into traditional Japanese folk songs.
“Listen to the sound and the expression Mika will bring. Hear how the sound of the music comes to [your] soul,” Oshima-Ryan said.
The music, according to Oshima-Ryan, highlights space in music. “Space is a part of music. Silence is also space,” she said. Oshima-Ryan explained that space is a key concept in Japanese culture. “We respect the silence or space.”
“Music always starts from nothing. Without silence, people cannot make sounds. In Japanese songs, we more enjoy the sounds between notes, or even the resting … Japanese culture is more a feeling culture. Even art reflects that,” First-year Japanese International Student Jane Chung, one of the students receiving lessons with Kimula, said.
Songs featured during the recital will include “The Nightingale” (music by Fumio Hayasaka, a composer known for his work on Akira Kurosawa films), “Spider Lilies” and “Evening Primrose,” among others. Music from the Taishô period (1911-1926) will also be featured.
“Around that time in Japanese culture, the most significant Japanese literature was poetry—the Haiku. That influenced musical composition … The fluency of the music is very important,” Chung said.
While learning to pronounce the language (all of the songs are in Japanese), McConnaughey noticed the flow of the music. “I’ve never sung in Japanese, so this is new for me … The words end in vowels, so for a singer, it’s wonderful. It creates such a beautiful legato line.”
Because most students’ knowledge of Japanese is probably limited to konnichiwa and sayonara, the opportunity to experience a level of communication that transcends language presents itself most conspicuously in this unique performance on Saturday.
As McConnaughey put it, “[The experience] will be beautiful and powerful.”