http://satsumabiwa.com/blog Thomas Charles Marshall talks about biwa and hiw activities in the biwa world amongst other things Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:26:20 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Just under two years ago, at the end of June 2006 to be precise, I became involved in a very interesting project that involved making silk strings from wild silk worms as opposed to that produced from domesticated varieties. I first became interested in the kind of silk that was been ... http://satsumabiwa.com/blog/2008/06/03/natural-silk-biwa-strings-1/ It has been a considerable time since I last posted an entry. What with the university job and running to and from Tokyo at least twice a week I have found it very hard to keep up with any of my personal affairs. In the following entries, I shall try ... http://satsumabiwa.com/blog/2008/05/28/television-appearance-on-bs-11/ My sister, Triona, is touring harpist with the Chieftains and following the Chieftains' Japan Tour 2007, she remained in Japan to do a few performances with me. We have a small programme of Irish and Japanese music for biwa and harp, and shakuhachi and harp. Over the last week we ... http://satsumabiwa.com/blog/2007/06/20/triona-marshall-and-thomas-ranjo-samurai-and-bard/ Today I would like to take the time to introduce the university I work at a little more. To begin with, I would like to explain a little of one of the courses that is available to students -- namely, the hogaku course 邦楽コース. The principal member of the course is Shin Miyashita ... http://satsumabiwa.com/blog/2007/06/19/university-of-creation-art-music-social-work/ If I may add a little to the entry on Marlene Dumas' work which I made a few days ago, I would like to say that I do not regard myself as an art critic, and I feel it rather foolish of me to have rambled on in the manner ... http://satsumabiwa.com/blog/2007/06/11/chieftains-in-triphony-hall/ Recently, I heard the Tallis Scholar's perform at Kioi Hall near Yotsuya Station in Tokyo. It was my first time to hear them perform live, and to visit the Kioi Hall. The tenor singer in the Tallis Scholar's, Mr. Nicholas Todd, and I read music together at Cambridge. He also graduated in 1994. The ... http://satsumabiwa.com/blog/2007/06/08/tallis-scholars-concert/ The Chieftains concert at the Bunkamura in Shibuya went very well last night. The hall was packed as far as I could tell. The beginning of the concert was also the beginning of the tour, so it seemed a little tense, but by the end of the first half things ... http://satsumabiwa.com/blog/2007/06/02/chieftains-concert-in-shibuya/ Triona Marshall, the eldest of my three younger sisters, is here in Japan as touring harpist with the Chieftains on their 2007 Japan Tour. She arrived on Wednesday. This evening wil be the first concert. I am very excited about seeing her this evening. It wil be the first time ... http://satsumabiwa.com/blog/2007/06/01/triona-and-the-chieftains-japan-tour-2007/ I often wonder at how the staff at educational institutions interact with their students. Oftentimes, I used to find it was one of looking down the length of their nose at them. However, somehow there is a slide to opposite extreme in many instances these days, I feel. Educators seem afraid to ... http://satsumabiwa.com/blog/2007/05/31/university-students-these-days/ I started working at this University (University of Creation; Art, Music & Social Work) at the end of March. It is quite a tough job with long hours and a considerable work load, but I am enjoying learning new skills expecially with relation to advertising part of the University Advertising and Promotion Team. I ... http://satsumabiwa.com/blog/2007/05/30/university-life-in-japan/