2022 was a bright and shining flash for me, a year of good balance- busy but not crazy, spending time with loved ones while focusing on the work and it seems 2023 is shaping up to keep this pace.

Some work highlights include touring with Rhiannon Giddens and Silkroad Ensemble, with Yo-Yo Ma joining for one concert, playing with Laurie Anderson, and performing with Mikhail Baryshnikov.

In my personal life, I've been blessed with the health and happiness of my partner and daughter, my parents, other relatives, and so many loved ones. I visited Japan for the first time since the pandemic started and did some traveling that wasn't for work - a rarity in the last twenty years of near-constant travel.

A big new undertaking that will dominate much of the first half of the year is I will be the artist-in-residence at Loyola University in Chicago. I'll be traveling between NY and Chicago almost every week for one semester to work with students there- teaching courses in Japanese traditional and contemporary music and working with various ensembles. Loyola is very generously allowing me to prioritize concerts and other projects, so I will be skipping weeks here and there

Below is a list of highlights of upcoming performances - I hope to see many of you somewhere out there:

Tomas Fujiwara residency at Roulette (Jan 8-12 )

BOROGUSAKAGU at Japanese Consulate (Jan 20)

Loyola University Chicago residency - (Monday-Wednesday, January 23-April 29)

Kaoru Watanabe at Loyola Chicago (February 14th)

Alicia Hall Moran’s ‘COLD-BLOODED’ Project in Bryant Park (Feb 21)

Tomas Fujiwara Percussion Quartet at Joe’s Pub (March 3)

Tale of Genji (March 20-26)

Loyola Percussion Ensemble Concert (April 21)

Loyola Orchestra Concert (April 29th)

LaTasha Nevada Diggs performance (May 25th)

Extinction Ritual at Japan Society (June 5-10)