Projects

Karin Nakagawa Solo

Pasado en claro

ECM-Records Quartet

Anders Jormin	Double Bass
Lena Willemark	Voice, Fiddle, Viola
Karin Nakagawa	25-string Koto
Jon Fält	Drums

The award-winning, highly-acclaimed trio of Anders Jormin, Lena Willemark and Karin Nakagawa has been joined by the well known Swedish drummer Jon Fält to form a fascinating quartet, returning to ECM-Records.
Their first album Pasado en claro was released in 2023 and was named one of the best albums of 2023 by the American jazz magazine Downbeat.

Lyöstraini

ECM-Records Trio

Anders Jormin	Double Bass
Lena Willemark	Voice, Fiddle, Viola
Karin Nakagawa	25-string Koto

In the fascinating Swedish / Japanese Recording project LYÖSTRAINI – Trees of Light, Lena, Karin and Anders carefully let the japanese classical tradition, Lena’s strong poems in her native Älvdals-toungue and the open fields of improvisation meet and react into a unique musical world for new paths to be created. The music of this ensemble carries an impression of history, of today and tomorrow- in the same, resonant spur of the moment.

The first CD of the Trio was published by ECM-Records in the year 2015 and won the Swedish Grammy Award 2016 as well as the „Bestenliste 3-2015“ awarded by: die deutsche Schallplattenkritik. Their second CD was released together with the Bohuslän Big Band in 2019 at Lo sen Records.

玉響 – Tamayura

Paolino Dalla Porta , Karin Nakagawa, Hans Tutzer | PHOTO – Thomas Radlwimmer

Karin Nakagawa	25-string Koto, Voice
Hans Tutzer	Soprano Saxophone
Paolino Dalla Porta	Double Bass

Karin Nakagawa from Yokohama (Japan) and Hans Tutzer from Bolzano (Italy) first met in the summer of 2014 at an international workshop for artists and musicians in South Tyrol. The one-of-a-kind resonance created by a mix of soprano saxophone, koto, and vocals—tied together with a remarkable musical affinity—soon led to numerous collaborative works and concerts. In 2017, they were joined by esteemed Italian bassist, Paolino Dalla Porta, giving the newly-formed trio more depth, range, and fullness of sound. The fusion of chamber music, traditional songs, and jazz is playful, earthen and vibrant, and allows all three musicians to spread out and improvise across genres throughout their original repertoire.

Joyful hues, in a reverie full of harmonies, rhythms and soundscapes, instill a new independence, trailing off into vast expanses. This subtle and tender invitation entices you to linger, to slow down and immerse yourself into a silver-gold world… Nakagawa, Tutzer and Dalla Porta convene as three masterful musicians who remember the beauty of impermanence with utmost sensitivity and passion, basing their actions on an essential focus, using a precise selection of sounds, and dynamically moving between meditative and energetic moments. This is poetry in its purest form!

Manfred Bernard

The first CD of the Trio was published by Losen Records November 2020.

Momonga

Children’s Theatre: „Stone, stone – bubble up!“ & „Tänk om / What if“

Karin Nakagawa	Artistic Concept & Idea, Stage Design & Shadow Art, Artist
Lotta Sjölin Cederblom	Artistic Concept & Idea, Artist
Vanessa Labanino	Production
Booking & Information	Possibilitas

Welcome to Momonga’s magical world of light, shadow, music and storytelling!
Momonga is a Swedish-Japanese duo who together create music and performing arts for children. The artistic drive is a poetic narrative where the body and various instruments move the performance. Karin plays the 25-string koto and Lotta the steel tongue and bass clarinet. Both sing and play various percussion instruments.

“Stone, stone – bubble up!” – for families & children aged 5-9
Deep down in the sea lives a girl who collects people’s forgotten stories, songs and wisdoms, which have been sunk like stones in the bottom of the sea. When she listens to the stones, they become weightless and rise to the surface like bubbles. The girl reminds us of how important you are, how important I am, and how we are all connected.

“Tänk om / What if” – for families & children 6-10
See the big in the small and the small in the big. Just like night and day… walking… breathing… everything is occurring in circles. What if – we are in the universe and the universe is in us.
The poetic and dreamy atmosphere —inspired by the Japanese poet Misuzu Kaneko—, is playfully and gently portrayed using various musical instruments, primarily the traditional Japanese string instrument koto.

Ensemble Delydious

a new look at Debussy…

Günter Wehniger	Flute, Alto Flute
Karin Nakagawa	25-string Koto, Voice
André Buser	Electric Bass
Urs Wiesner	Vibraphone, Percussion

The flutist and composer Günter Wehinger has given some compositions by Claude Debussy a fascinatingly exotic sound. With flute, vibraphone, e-bass and koto (traditional Japanese string instrument), classics such as Clair de lune or L’après-midi d’un faune sound refreshingly new. Composition and improvisation merge into a harmonious whole. Wehinger and his co-musicians were not about „jazzing-up“ Debussy. With the utmost respect for Debussy’s work, the impressionistic sound is preserved in the improvisations, sometimes the musicians also improvise only with motifs of the composition. The program is complemented by compositions by Erik Satie, André Buser and Günter Wehinger.

The formation released their first CD in 2019 with Unit Records.

Miyama

Ladinia meets Japan

Karin Nakagawa	25-string Koto, Voice
Jean-Daniel Granruaz	Guitar, Voice

A chance meeting between two musicians, Jean-Daniel Granruaz, a Ladin guitarist and songwriter, and Karin Nakagawa, an eclectic Japanese artist, leads to an invigorating intercultural collaboration. This creates an approach to Ladin and Japanese realities in which distant cultures can magically converge, effectively expanding their borders. Their music cultivates a dialogue, taking listeners on a journey through past life stories and easygoing rhythms from bygone eras. Both artists use their backgrounds in folklore, pop, and jazz, as well as classical, chamber, and world music, fusing them into a stimulating, intellectual and sensuous performance.

Ol’Jansa

Göran Månsson & Friends

Göran Månsson	Flute-Härjedalspipa
Karin Nakagawa	25-string Koto
Emma Ahlberg	Fiddle
Martin von Schmalensee	Bass, Guitar
Patrik Källström	Fiddle, Pump Organ, Harmonica, Arrangör

Guests
Fanny Källström	Fiddle
Klara Källström	Cello

During the spring of 2017, the well known swedish flute player Göran Månsson was, in collaboration with a group of musicians out of all kind of genres, recording a new album with music inspired by Olof Jönsson.
Flute player Olof Jönsson (1867–1953) also called Ol’Jansa, lived in the Härjedalen province in the middle of Sweden, and was, as it was common among folk pipers, a musician mostly in private.
His instrument was the Härjedalspipan – the Härjedalen flute, and his music must have been seen as quite intriguing, even exotic, as Swedish radio recorded his tunes on no less than three separate occasions between 1935 and 1951.
Ol’Jansa’s music was brought to the present, and developed to a border-crossing cooperation, with influences from different styles building a new music out of the traditional, giving a new identity to the instrument and its clime.

In commission of Svenskt Visarkiv (the Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research) and the public record company Caprice Records the album Ol’Jansa – Göran Månsson & Friends was released in autumn 2017 and is nominated for the best Folk album of the Year 2018 in Sweden by MANIFEST GALAN.

Between Beat and Blue

Solo Dance Performance

Carmen Olsson	Choreography & Dance
Harald Svensson	Music & Electronics
Karin Nakagawa	25-string Koto
Viktor Wendin	Lighting

see saw
rises
falls
still beyond

To desire, yet at the same time dismiss. To long for something, but not want the possible consequences. To think one thing, but feel another. Could one truly see and experience change in a different way, from a different place? Such conflicting emotions are at the heart of the performance Between Beat and Blue.
Carmen Olsson, dancer and choreographer, possesses a strong, yet sensitive sense of artistic expression. Her Swedish-Spanish heritage is reflected through and met with Butoh and various other aspects of Japanese culture.

Produced with support from: the Swedish Arts Grants Committee, Västra Götalandsregionen, Göteborgs Stad, Regionsteater Väst.

Sounds of Daybreak

A Fresh Take on Japanese Koto and Wadaiko Art

Karin Nakagawa	25-string Koto, Voice
Takuya Taniguchi	Taiko Drums, Percussion, Voice

Experience an authentic and modern interpretation of traditional Japanese sounds and sentiments.
Multi-award-winning kotoist, Karin Nakagawa, and taikoist, Takuya Taniguchi, blend both classic and contemporary styles into a one-of-a kind program.
An energetic, emotional, and timeless performance inspires without the use of supplementary effects, but instead through a respectful and intense confluence of two masters.

Unio Mystica II

Dietrich Oberdörfer	Organ, Voice
Karin Nakagawa	25-string Koto, Voice
Andreas Unterholzner	Electric Guitar

„Unio Mystica“ is a long-term, multicultural project created by South Tyrolean musician and composer Dietrich Oberdörfer. The aim is merging different archaic sound languages that evoke the fundamental human need for internalisation and transcendence through their mystic character.
In Unio Mystica II, occidental sacral music meets psychedelic guitar sounds and Far Eastern Shinto and Zen mysticism. In a shared journey through both time and diverse musical styles, the three musicians have created a distinct sound.

The formation released a CD in 2015 at Steinach Edition in Italy.

Liquid Soul & Osaka Shomyo

LIQUID SOUL
Gert Anklam	Saxophone, Sheng
Beate Gatscha	Dance, Hang, Taiko
Karin Nakagawa	25-string Koto, Voice
Saichu Yohansyah	Gong, Singing Bowl
Uwe Walter	Shakuhachi, Dance, Voice

OSAKA SHOMYO
Wajun Momoo	Choral Direction,Voice
Kenryo Shibata	Calligraphy, Voice
Kyujun Suzuki	Voice
Juntetsu Nakanishi	Voice
Yujun Onoe	Voice

Beate Gatscha & Gert Anklam	Project Conception, Artistic & Administrative Direction
Karin Nakagawa & Gert Anklam	Music
Karin Nakagawa	Arrangement Japanese Folk Songs

SHO YOKU CHI SOKU – To desire little is to know enough
A staged German-Japanese oratorio, with 7th century Buddhist chants sung by monks from Osaka and Nagoya, traditional Japanese instruments, a giant Javanese gong, and richly improvised saxophone playing. A cross-cultural, inter-faith dialogue between East and West, past and present, as well as personal and collective spheres.
Oratorio (orare = pray) is a western Christian musical term for a vocal composition with a religious story. The oratorio “Sho Yoku Chi Soku” is a musical metaphor for the question of the true quality of life. This question unifies both cultures, which seem so different at first glance. It also traces back to the origin of mankind from which pure sound is created.

Dedicated to the victims of the catastrophe in Japan on March 11, 2011.

Kong

Koto meets Hang

Karin Nakagawa	25-string Koto, Voice
Emanuel Valentin	Hang, Percussions

The musical connection between different worlds makes “KONG” what it is: an intercultural fusion of two artists from opposite sides of the globe. This unique duo gets its name from the tonal blend of two unusual instruments — the archaic and exotic Koto and the modern, spherical Hang. Koto & Hang = KONG.
Gentle, melodic and harmonious, yet passionate and rhythmic, the duo lead their audiences into new dimensions while revealing a reality that transcends tradition. Accompanied by Karin’s exceptional voice, listeners enjoy an exciting, emotional journey through culture, space and time.

Nakagawa & Pitscheider

Between Hope and Pain

Karin Nakagawa	25-string Koto, Voice
Günther Pitscheider	Double Bass
Manfred Bernard	Photography

Nakagawa and Pitscheider move in alternating, free improvised dialogue, away from the obvious and toward the abstract musical world. Familiar and unfamiliar, near and distant, clear and ambiguous — it’s all there, in equal amounts.
This intense dialogue began in 2010 in Stilfs, Vinschgau (South Tyrol, Italy), where Karin spent nearly a year, especially when the severe earthquake and nuclear disaster took place in Fukushima, Japan in 2011. From an initial feeling of powerlessness arose the mutual need for pain, fear and hope to express themselves. The musical worldview of both musicians seems like a life journey persistently confronted by chaos, curiously motivated by hopeful moments of personal harmony.