Artist

The Japan Association of Composers for Sumo Hearing Arts (JACSHA) is an association of composers who practice “sumo hearing arts” in an attempt to create a new form of expression by listening to sumo. Founded in 2008 by three board members – Sachiyo Tsurumi, Makoto Nomura, and Tomoko Momiyama – JACSHA believes that sumo is simultaneously a sacred ritual, an entertainment, a performing art, a sport, and a body of wisdom that reflects the traditional as well as the contemporary culture of Japan. JACSHA has organized various events including “Let’s Sumo Music” (Eko-in Temple), “Sumo Hearing Arts Forum” (Yanaka House), “Sumo Seminar: Sumo and Art” (HAPS), and “Scheming Sumo Hearing Arts” (Asahi Art Square).

TSURUMI Sachiyo
TSURUMI was born in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1976. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Tokyo University of the Arts. She was awarded an honorable mention in the annual International Gaudeamus Music Week with her guitar duo piece “Toy” in 2000. She was an invited composer in the Annual Takefu International Composition Workshop in 2002 and the Oslo Contemporary Music Festival ULTIMA 2005 in Norway. Her compositions involve both traditional Japanese and western instruments. She works in a wide range of genres from classical music to movie soundtracks, pop music, folk, and children’s music. Her ability to create unique and fresh blends of different genres has won her high praise both inside and outside of Japan.

NOMURA Makoto
NOMURA is a composer, practitioner of collaborative composition, improviser, unique pianist and innovative melodica player. His compositions have incorporated traditional Japanese instruments, the Javanese gamelan, the western orchestra, rock bands, roof-tiles, children’s toys, body percussion, found objects, environmental sounds, and much more. He has collaborated not only with professional musicians but also children, amateurs, animals, dancers, visual artists and counselors. He has occasionally participated in art events, too. In 2014 he composed “Senju-no-Senju-nin” which was presented by 1,010 performers. His work has been played in more than 20 countries, including at the Yogyakarta Gamelan Festival in Indonesia, Zommer Jazz Fiestour in the Netherlands and Wide Open School in the United Kingdom. He has been invited as a lecturer and visiting professor at many universities in Japan, Asia and Europe. He is currently the director of the community program of the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra.

MOMIYAMA Tomoko
Born in 1977 in Fukui Prefecture, and raised in New York and California, MOMIYAMA is now based in Tokyo. After graduating from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Human Biology, she studied musical composition at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague under the Japanese Government Overseas Study Programme for Artists. Her site-specific works have been presented throughout Japan as well as at various international art and music festivals in different parts of Asia, Europe, North and Central Americas and Africa. In oder to create music that belongs to the lives of people today, Momiyama collaborates with communities of social minorities and specialists from different disciplines in addition to working with internationally acclaimed musicians and ensembles. Her projects range across a wide spectrum of media, varying from participatory theater pieces to interactive sound installations and ritual performances.