JUSFC Fireside Chat:
Thursday, November 19 from 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. ET/Friday, November 20 from 9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. JST
Registration is required in advance for this meeting:

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting, including a password.

U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Program Fellow Gene Coleman in conversation with Miho Walsh, and accompanied by Akikazu Nakamura, Sansuzu Tsuruzawa and Adam Vidiksis. This U.S.-Japan artistic team will discuss their collaboration on the KATA Project, a multidisciplinary composition combining martial arts, traditional Japanese music, and contemporary music and video.

For the first time in Olympic history, karate will be presented in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The KATA Project seeks to celebrate this milestone and to foster collaboration and friendship between the United States and Japan through the power of artistic expression and cultural exchange. KATA will be premiered at Shibuya Cultural Center Owada Sakura Hall, Tokyo on July 30 and 31, 2021 during the rescheduled Olympic Games. Performances in the United States will follow in Fall 2021.

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Ms. Miho Walsh
Born in the United States and raised mostly in Japan, for the past 25 years Walsh has been working in the sphere of cultural and educational exchange. She is the former Executive Director of the Asian Cultural Council, where she spent 12 years working towards a mission of enhancing international understanding and respect, and engaging dialogue between the U.S. and Japan. Walsh holds a BA in political science and French from Vassar College, and an MA in organizational psychology from Columbia University. Prior to her position at the Asian Cultural Council, Walsh worked as an Executive Director at Columbia University for nearly a decade. Before that, she was the Program Coordinator at the Consulate General of Japan.

Mr. Gene Coleman, Composer, Musician, Director
A 2014 Guggenheim Fellow and the winner of the 2013 Berlin Prize for Music, Coleman has created more than 70 works for various instrumentation and media. Innovative use of sound, image, space, and time allows Coleman to create work that expands our understanding of the world. Since 2001 his work has focused on the global transformation of culture and music’s relationship with science, architecture, video, and dance. He studied painting, music, and new media at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Mr. Akikazu Nakamura, Composer, Shakuhachi Player
Studied under Katsuya Yokoyama and several masters of the komuso shakuhachi tradition. A graduate of the NHK School of Traditional Music, Nakamura went on to study composition and jazz theory at Berklee College of Music. He was awarded a master’s degree in composition and third-stream music at the New England Conservatory. While still grounding his roots in the classical tradition handed down by komuso monks, Nakamura has delved into different musical genres, including rock, jazz, and contemporary music.

Ms. Sansuzu Tsuruzawa, Gidayu-style Shamisen Performer
A performer of Gidayu-style shamisen based in Tokyo. Tsuruzawa completed a master’s degree in musicology at Tokyo University of the Arts and now teaches at Tokyo College of Music. In 2018 she was designated as an Important Intangible Cultural Property for her artistry by the government of Japan. She has performed with various contemporary music projects in Tokyo and other places, including New York, Boston, and Toronto in 2019 through the support of the Japan Foundation.

Dr. Adam Vidiksis, Composer, Conductor, Percussionist, and Technologist
Vidiksis is an assistant professor of music technology and composition at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance. Vidiksis holds degrees from New York University and a Ph.D. in music composition from Temple University. His music often explores sound, science, and the intersection of humankind with the machines we build. Vidiksis’ research in music technology focuses on techniques for realtime audio processing, designing gestural controllers for live digital performance, and machine improvisation.

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Since 1978, the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) and the National Endowment for the Arts (Arts Endowment) have worked with the Government of Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkacho) and the International House of Japan (I-House) to organize the U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Fellowship Program. In 2019, JUSFC and the Arts Endowment selected five U.S.-Japan artistic teams for the 2020 U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Fellowship Program. Each team is collaborating on a project that reflects the themes of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The completed artistic works will be showcased in Tokyo in summer 2021. This is the first time since the program’s inception that artists were selected as a U.S.-Japan team to produce a joint work to present to the public. This collaborative team approach reflects the spirit of unity that animates the Games, and highlights the enduring partnership between Japan and the United States.