Internationally-Acclaimed Marimbist Makoto Nakura To Perform At Next Maurice River Music Salon Concert

Final Salon Concert of the 2018-19 Season

MAURICETOWN, NJ—Internationally-acclaimed marimbist Makoto Nakura will be the featured performer at Maurice River Music’s next salon concert—the final salon concert of the 2018-19 season—on Sunday, April 7, at 2:30 p.m., at a residence in the Mauricetown, NJ area. 

He will perform his transcriptions for marimba of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No. 2 in E major for Solo Violin, BWV 1006, and three Bach Chorales; Toshiya Sukegawa’s Five Pieces After Paul Klee; three songs from around the world; and Philip Lasser’s Bach Echoes for marimba, composed for Nakura. 

Nakura was born in Kobe, Japan and began playing the marimba at age eight. He earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Musashino College in Tokyo, and continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Since 1994, he has lived in New York City. 

He was the first marimbist to win First Prize in the prestigious Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He has given critically acclaimed performances in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires. He has performed in 41 of the 50 United States with such ensembles as the New York Chamber Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra. He has given solo recitals at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, has made a guest appearance with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has given performances in the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Spoleto USA Festival, and Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival. He has performed the marimba concerto by Ney Rosauro with the Bay Atlantic Symphony.

Among leading composers who have written works for Nakura have been Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Pierre Jalbert, Kevin Puts, Kenji Bunch, Toshio Mashima, and Michael Torke. He premiered Toshio Mashima’s marimba concerto in the famed Philharmonie Hall in Berlin and Benjamin C.S. Boyle’s concerto with the Montreal Chamber Orchestra.

Nakura has also developed collaborative works with other art forms. These include many performances with American Ballet Theatre, among them the solo in a new production of Marimba. He commissioned and premiered Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez’s The Ocean Calls, based on poems by Pablo Neruda. Using projected images, he created The Story of Aoyagi, a venerable Japanese ghost story. In The Encounter of Art and Music, he played pieces inspired by modern paintings, while the paintings were projected, while he and a curator provided commentary. Since he launched “Forest Trilogy,” a project with choir, he has performed it in New York City, the United Kingdom, and Japan. He most recently produced “The Pillow Book Project”—based on a venerable Japanese essay—with a narrator.

His honors include a National Arts Festival New Artist Award from the Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs, the BMI/Carlos Surinach Fund Marimba Commission, and being named an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. 

On his first three CDs—Ritual Protocol and Triple Jump: Six Original Pieces for Marimba (both on Kleos Classics), and Tsuneya Tanabe Works for Marimba (on ALM Records) – virtually every composition was written for him. His Bach Beat CD (on Kleos Classics), includes five of his own Bach transcriptions. His CD Wood and Forest, released by AMP, was critically acclaimed. He also recorded his own transcription of works by Bach called “Bach Beat” and “Bach Beat II,” which were released by Naxos, also to critical acclaim. These recordings have become the inspiration for artists in different disciplines; notably it was featured in the fashion show of Rei Kawakubo’s COMME des GARCONS 2017 spring/summer collection.

A portrait of Nakura was on the CBS Sunday Morning television program and his recitals have been widely televised by KBS (Korea) and NHK (Japan) and played on many radio stations. 

Seating is very limited, so reservations are required. Donations to assist in covering expenses will be accepted. To reserve seats, receive directions, or receive more information on the series, please call Maurice River Music at 856-506-0580, e-mail them at info@mauricerivermusic.com, or visit their website at www.mauricerivermusic.com.