2022 Recording Project
Dear Friends,
Dhondup from the Koto Ensemble here. I am very happy to share that in November 2022, we finally got around to recording a new album featuring works by Australian composers for the koto. We haven’t decided the name of the album yet, as the project is very new at this stage.
Instrumentation includes Koto, Bass Koto, Saxophone, Marimba, Taiko drums and other percussion instruments. Some of the composers that we worked with include Ian Cleworth, Sandy Evans and Mark Issacs. Over the course of 3 days, we recorded six pieces at Sydney’s Trackdown Studios. Some of these songs might sound familiar to our audiences as we have played them in previous concerts. It’s just that we’ve never really gotten around to recording them till now. The Ensemble recorded together in one individual track with overdubs for solos and other interesting variations in the pieces.
We are yet to master the tracks which should happen some time towards the end of the year. So, we are hopeful for an early 2023 album release and plan to put on a few concerts to support this new album.
Special mention of the team and all the musicians featured in the album including our guests from overseas.
Tony Lewis - Production
Micky Levis - Sound Engineer
Sandy Evans - Saxophone
Ian Cleworth and Ryuji Hamada - Taiko/Percussion
Alison Pratt - Marimba
Miyama McQueen Tokita (Japan)
Noriko Tsuboi (Thailand)
Brandon Lee & Mai Taniguchi (Melbourne)
Satsuki Odamura, Hitomi Kurosawa, Yuko Yamamoto, Yukie Ota, Silvana Imperatori & Dhondup Tsering
Album photography by Mayu Kanamori
Here are some photos from the session.
After a brief COVID related hibernation, we look forward to playing for you and seeing you at one of our concerts in the not too distant future.
Best wishes,