National Cherry Blossom Festival's video: 2020 Opening Ceremony: Anna Sato Toshiyuki Sasaki

An alternative musical ensemble featuring Anna Sato, a master of shima-uta (traditional folk songs of Amami Island) and a drummer, Toshiyuki Sasaki. Shima-uta is a singing tradition in which the voice is simply accompanied by a drum called chijin. This ensemble creates a new sound while embracing the fundamental composition by combining the sounds of shima-uta, sanshin (traditional three-stringed instrument from Amami Island), Amami harp (traditional vertical harp of Amami Island) and the western drums. Ms. Sato began learning shima-uta from her grandfather, Sumio Megumi, from age three and won multiple awards while growing up. Her professional debut came after performing at the opening of EXPO2005. This opening event was produced by Kansai Yamamoto, internationally acclaimed fashion designer. In 2013 and 2015, she performed in the musical Les Miserables in the role of Fantine. Then she caught the eye of renowned Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and performed shima-uta in his dance production titled ICON. In the production of Cuentos De Azucar (Sugar Tales), Anna collaborated with Flamenco’s leading dancer and director Eva Yerbabuena. In 2018, she sang the theme of NHK’s yearlong period drama, Segodon and also appeared in the drama in the role of a family member of the protagonist. Mr. Sasaki’s drumming style is often praised as being poetically sensitive, yet very powerful based on Japanese cultural traditions. His own band, Nautilus, was formed in 2014 and is distributed through a German music label. As a result, they have received a great deal of praises from overseas. Anna Sato x Toshiyuki Sasaki, have performed as a musical ensemble in Paris and also at a choir festival held in Corsica, in 2016, which brought them international acclaim. They have been actively performing domestically as well as internationally. Anna Sato website: https://www.annasato-primitive-voice.com Toshiyuki Sasaki website: https://www.nautilusmusic.net