Masayo Ishigure

Masayo Ishigure (koto, shamisen)

Masayo Ishigure began playing the koto and jiuta shamisen at the age of five in Gifu, Japan and has created an extensive multi-faceted career that continues to stretch the limits of the koto while maintaining a strong grasp of the tradition. In 2005, Masayo Ishigure was a recording artist for the Grammy Award-Winning soundtrack for the movie “Memoirs of a Geisha” by John Williams alongside Yitzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and others. In 2001, she released her own solo CD entitled “Grace”. Ishigure has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall-Weill Recital Hall, BAM, Merkin Hall, Asia Society, Japan Society, The Metropolitan Museum, Symphony Space and has been invited to perform at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and the Smithsonian Institute.