Tatsuo Sasaki (Percussionists)
Tatsuo Sasaki (佐々木 達夫 'Tatsuo Sasaki, born March 30, 1944) is a timpanist, percussionist, xylophonist and marimbist, born in Okayama, Japan and lives in San Diego, CA.
Career[edit]
Tatsuo Sasaki was born in Okayama-city, Japan and started playing the marimba at the age of seven. Soon after, his performance was broadcasted on NHK (Japan National Broadcasting Company) radio programs and won the NHK student music competition.
He received Fulbright Scholarship to Juilliard School of Music while he was senior at Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku (Tokyo University of Arts and Music) and studied timpani with Saul Goodman, the timpanist with New York Philharmonic.
He also received several lessons from noted xylophonist, Yoichi Hiraoka in New York and performed recitals in New York city.
In 1966, Sasaki was accepted by The American Symphony directed by Leopold Stokowski as a percussionist and performed concerts in Carnegie Hall, New York.
In 1967 he was invited by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Zubin Mehta, and performed as the assistant timpanist and percussionist for two years.
Sasaki returned to Japan in 1969 and became a member of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Seiji Ozawa. He also served as a faculty at Sakuyo Conservatoire as percussion instructor and gave his first solo recital in Tokyo in 1972.
Later in 1972, Sasaki was invited to the Orquestra Sinfonica Brazileiro and relocated to Rio de Janeiro as a principal timpanist. After 18 months in the Orquestra Sinfonica Brazileiro, Peter Eros, music director of San Diego Symphony, invited Sasaki to his orchestra in US. Sasaki moved to San Diego in the fall of 1973 and served as principal timpanist for San Diego Symphony and San Diego Opera until his retirement in 2006. He also taught timpani, percussion, and marimba at USD (University of San Diego) and Grossmont College.
Sasaki has been featured as xylophone soloist with San Diego Symphony, Glendale Symphony, etc. and performed “Fantasy on Japanese Wood Prints” composed by Alan Hovhaness directed by Andre Kostelanetz; “Marimba Concerto” by Robert Kurka; “Concertino for marimba” by Paul Creston; “Suite No.2” by J.S.Bach, etc. .
After retirement from the orchestra, Sasaki concentrated his work on the marimba through his teachings, masterclasses, and conducting marimba ensembles in Tokyo and Nagoya.
In 2009 Sasaki formed "TheMarimbaDuo" with noted marimbist/music arranger/music publisher Michiko Noguchi in Tokyo. TheMarimbaDuo has released several CDs, performed concerts, and has been actively releasing their performances on YouTube.
TheMarimbaDuo contributes its energy into nurturing young marimbists by forming and coaching "Marimba Ensemble Remix" and releasing their performances on YouTube.
Recorded CDs[edit]
- ”Xylophone Artistry” (Solo) Musical Heritage Society, US
- 2009 ”Riverdance” (The Marimba Duo) Kleos, US
- 2011 ”Tempest” (The Marimba Duo) Kleos, US
- 2017 “Back to Bach” (The Marimba Duo + Marimba Ensemble) Kojima Recording, Japan
External links[edit]
- Tatsuo Sasaki Official website
- Tatsuo Sasaki Facebook
- The Marimba Duo on youtube
- Remix Marimba Ensemble on Youtube
This article "Tatsuo Sasaki (Percussionists)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Tatsuo Sasaki (Percussionists). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
