United States-based trumpeter, Tiger Okashi, will perform together with the Kitanodai Gagaku Ensemble, which promotes international cultural exchange through the classical Japanese art form of “Gagaku” (ancient imperial court music and dance).

Tiger Okoshi
A Boston resident, trumpet player, Professor at Berklee College of Music.
Tiger Okoshi was born in 1950 in the city of Ashiya. Greatly influenced by Louis Armstrong, he immersed himself in jazz. In 1972, the year he graduated from Kwansei Gakuin University, he traveled to the United States for his honeymoon. When they arrived in Boston, they sold their return air tickets and paid the tuition at Berklee College of Music. Day after day, he played the trumpet on the riverbank, hoping someone would ask him to join a band – that happened! In 1974, at Carnegie Hall, he performed with the Mike Gibbs Orchestra, which had also performed with the legendary Bill Evans Trio. After graduating summa cum laude from Berklee in 1975, he toured the United States with the Buddy Rich Orchestra. His fame grew as time went on. He started teaching at Berklee in 1976. In 1978, invited by his old teacher, Gary Burton, he released Times Square from the ECM label, followed by a world tour. Today, he is widely active as a producer, arranger and worldwide performer while teaching at Berklee.

Kitanodai Gagaku Ensemble
The objective of the Kitanodai Gagaku Ensemble, established in 1982, is to promote international cultural exchanges and to educate and raise the aesthetic sensibilities of young people through Gagaku, a classical Japanese art form with a history of more than a thousand years. Overseas, the Ensemble has given performances at commemorative events sponsored by the Japanese Government to celebrate friendly relations with other countries as well as held many workshops at universities or other institutions. At home, they are involved in activities to introduce Gagaku to elementary and junior high school students, such as “Traditional Performing Arts and Western Music - Hands-on Communication Project” sponsored by Chiba Prefectural Government. The Ensemble is also engaged in concerts in regional areas.
From its inception, the Ensemble studied under the late Mr. Fumitaka Tohgi, the former chief court musician of the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency of Japan, and currently receives lessons from Mr. Shogo Anzai, the former chief court musician of the Music Department at the Agency.