Midtown Concerts • Eurasia Consort
Music of the Buddhist Paradise
Tomoko Sugawara ~ kugo & harp
Rex Benincasa ~ hokyo, glockenspiel & ha
Ling Tang ~ dance
This performance is Eurasia Consort’s celebration of music with kugo harp, hokyo glockenspiel, and dance. At the end of Northwest China there is the city of Dunhuang. Dunhuang was one of the most important cities on the Silk Road. In 1900, manuscripts were discovered in the caves there. They include a treasure of documents including religious and historical texts, mathematics and music. The extraordinary trove of music and dance manuscripts was made during the Tang Dynasty (7th–9th centuries). During the last century scholars from Japan, China, and England began to transcribe them into modern notations. This concert includes Tang music transcribed by Chinese scholar, Chen Yingshi. Some works are dance music of the Sogdian people; some are in the repertoire of the Tang court.
The kugo replica was made in 2008, and the hokyo was made in 2022 using original instruments as models from the 7th–9th centuries of the Japanese emperor’s treasure house, the Shosoin.
Tomoko Sugawara studied harp at Tokyo University of the Arts and cultural history at Seijo University. She enjoys playing harps from East & West, like the kugo, Renaissance harp and Baroque triple harp. Rex Benincasa is a world music specialist percussionist, including the ancient Asian glockenspiel, hokyo. Ling Tang is a New York-based dancer, educator, and arts manager with professional training in traditional Chinese and contemporary dance.
