"Japan Arts Day" features Akemi Iwase on Saturday, Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m., in the John F. Welsh Auditorium at Natrona County High School in Casper. This event is free and open to the public.Here's more info from the ARTCORE web site:
Akemi began composing music at age 12, and at age 16, she created many original songs with Shuji Someno, a poet. During a folk song boom, she performed the original songs, and when she was 18, she formed a jazz band and performed at a nightclub in Ginza, Tokyo and in jazz cafes.
She formed a rock'n'roll Band, the Foxy Lady, with Keiko Watanabe. At age 20, Akemi moved to the U.S.A. with great aspirations. She lived in New York and Hawaii and got married. She performed piano and sang in the Queen Kapiolani Hotel. In 1974, she moved to California where she accompanied a magician and gave concerts. Inspired by traditional Nairobi music by Hamza El Din, she started arranging Japanese traditional folk songs, Minyo. While raising two children, she held many concerts with Shakuhachi, Koto, Cello, Tabla, and Sitar players in Northern California, as well as with members of the San Francisco Taiko Dojo.
Moving to Los Angeles in 1981, she composed and performed "Peace Song" for the event of the "Peace Day" arranged by Governor Brown. This song was often heard on KPFK Radio. She performed Jazzy Japanese Minyo and Latin music regularly at the "Comeback Inn," a Jazz Live Club.
In 1992, she moved to Colorado and managed the Westminster Dinner Theater and acted as a stage producer, while she held her own concerts.
She founded Moon Blossom Records and formed a music band, the Tokyo Tribe.Presented by The Consulate General of Japan in Denver in collaboration with Honorary Consul General Mariko T. Miller, ARTCORE and Natrona County School District No. 1
