Keiko Abe (安倍 圭子 Abe Keiko, born April 18, 1937) is a Japanese composer and marimba player. She has been a primary figure in the development of the marimba, in terms of expanding both technique and repertoire, and through her collaboration with the Yamaha musical instrument company, developed the modern five-octave concert marimba.
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Biography
Born in Tokyo, Japan Abe began playing the xylophone while in elementary school. She studied xylophone with Eiichi Asabuki in Tokyo. At age 13, she won an NHK talent contest and began performing professionally on live radio. She attended Tokyo Gakugei University where she completed a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Music Education. She began working in the Columbia Japan, NHK and other recording studios while in college.
In 1962 she and two friends (who were also students of Asabuki) founded the Xebec Marimba Trio, performing popular music, arrangements of folk songs and some of Abe's arrangements. They recorded more than seven albums between 1962 and 1966. During this period she had her own show on Japanese television, instructing schoolchildren in xylophone playing, as well as a radio show called "Good Morning Marimba". She also began her recording career with a bang, putting out 13 albums in a five-year span.
In 1963, the Yamaha Corporation sought Japanese marimba players to assist in the design of their new instruments; Keiko Abe was chosen for her original and clear ideas of the marimba sound and design, particularly her concept of how the marimba should be able to blend in ensembles, for example, moving away from the inconsistencies and lack of focus of folk percussion instruments. Her ideas for the desired sound of the instruments guided Yamaha's design, and in the 1970s began production. In addition, at her urging, the range of the new marimba was stretched from four octaves to five, which has become the standard for soloists. Abe has been closely associated with Yamaha ever since, and their first ever signature series of keyboard percussion mallets bears her name.
Her compositions, including "Michi", "Variations on Japanese Children's Songs", and "Dream of the Cherry Blossoms", have become standards of the marimba repertoire. Abe is active in promoting the development of literature for the marimba, not only by writing pieces herself, but also by commissioning works by other composers and encouraging young composers. She has added at least 70 compositions to the repertoire. She uses improvisation as an important element in developing her musical ideas which she then uses in her compositions.
In addition to her heavy composing, touring, and recording schedule, Abe has been a lecturer, then professor, at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo since 1970. She was the first woman to be inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1993.
She uses the YM-6000 Marimba made by Yamaha.
Her music is mainly published by Xebec Music Publishing and Schott, Japan.
Major works
Marimba solo
- Ancient Vase
- Ban-ka
- Dream of the Cherry Blossoms
- Frogs
- Itsuki Fantasy
- Little Windows
- Marimba d'amore
- Memories of the Seashore
- Memories of the Seashore II
- Michi
- Piacer d'Amor
- Prism
- Tambourin Paraphrase
- Three Monologues
- Variations on Japanese Children's Songs
- Voice of Matsuri Drums
- Wind Across Mountains
- Wind in the Bamboo Grove
- Wind Sketch
Marimba duo
- Conversation in the Forest I
- Memories of the seashore II
- Reflections on Japanese Children's Songs II
- Wind Across Mountains (Duo version)
- Wind in the Bamboo Grove II
- Wind Sketch II
Marimba and other instruments
- Conversation in the forest I (Version for solo marimba and 3 percussionists)
- The Wave: Marimba Concertino for solo marimba and 4 percussionists
- Reflections on Japanese Children's Songs III (Two Marimbists and Two Percussionists)
Marimba and orchestra
- Prism Rhapsody
- Prism Rhapsody II for two marimbas and orchestra or wind ensemble
References
J. Michele Edwards. "Keiko Abe", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed February 14, 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access).
Rebecca Kite. "Keiko Abe, A Virtuosic Life: Her Musical Career and the Development of the Concert Marimba", published 2007, GP Percussion [1]
External links
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