NHK appearance

Kyla, Brenna and Shana appeared on NHK TV last week. Here is the video clip. Enjoy!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year ! Thank you for your support and interest in the sisters in 2009. The sisters are enjoying some down time from a very busy year of performances and school work. Kyla is in the US visiting grandparents. The future is a bit uncertain for the three as a tsugaru shamisen trio since they no longer have a teacher or belong to any shamisen group. But they will continue to compete in national competitions and promote intercultural exchange.

Homepage

The sisters homepage has recently been updated and some of the links have changed.

Brenna sensei

Brenna helps Shana learn a new song by reading the sheet music. Tsugaru shamisen players do not use sheet music to perform so they must memorize everything they play.

Last of July

The sisters played at a large gathering of companies in Yamagata this evening. There were about 500 guests in attendance. They got to eat a good meal after the show. The sisters finished their busy performance schedule this month and will leave for the national competition in Nagoya on Friday.

Day 2

The sisters finished the second day of four in a row for a summer gourmet party.

on Stage Tonight

The sisters played for a private party tonight with about 150 people in the audience. Afterwards, they ate at a quick meal at McDonalds (but of course would not get out of the car wearing their Kimono!)

Sagae Performance

The sisters played in front of 360 people at this evenings performance in Sagae city, Yamagata. They met a lot of really nice people. and played in two different places in the same event. Next, they move on to Kaminoyama-city for their weekly performance at Koyo hotel.

TV clip

Check out the latest TV clip of the sisters that aired last week in the Tohoku region.

NPO Stage

You can see the sisters in the background of this photo. This afternoon they performed for an NPO convention for Yamagata. They have one more stage this evening!

late Performance

The sisters just finished a Sunday night stage which is a little hard for them if they have school the next day. They are starting to play really well together.

YBC TV crew

The YBC film crew finished today taking film of the three sisters at home rehearsing and at their performance tonight at KOYO hotel hot spring in Kaminoyama, Yamagata. Afterwards, they were interviewed. The show will appear on March 21st in the Tohoku region of Japan. See the stage calendar on the right for details. 

Singing

At tonight's performance, a hotel guest sang along to HANAGASA for the encore. He had a really good voice and everyone was surprised. Shana always gets the most applause from the audience. 

Recording

The sisters recorded themselves playing a song tonight. They only had one dog in the audience listening...

By ear or eyes

Brenna and Shana play a Yoshida Brother's song together this evening. Brenna is also teaching Shana how to read the sheet music so that she can pick up songs more quickly. Generally, it is better to learn by ear, but reading the sheet music allows the player learn more songs faster. So, now that Shana has learned by ear, she is studying how to read it.

Cold night

Tonight the sisters played at an Onsen hotel. They played a new song with Taiko drums in the background played from a CD. The timing was a little difficult for them but they did well. In this photo, Kyla warms up back stage. The temperature is -4C in Yamagata tonight!

New Years' practice

This evening the sisters worked on a new song to play together at a future performance. It is quite difficult as they must learn by ear. They usually sit on TATAMI to practice. In the background, you can see their Kimono.

Goodbye 2008

The sisters finished their last performance for 2008 tonight! They had a lot of performances this year and hope to do more next year. Thanks to all who supported them in 2008.

Christmas in Shibuya

The sisters performed at three services of the Christmas Eve service at Tokyo Baptist Church in Shibuya tonight. Each service was packed and they played several Christmas songs. Merry Christmas to all.

Big show

The sisters had their largest audience at their weekly Onsen Hotel performance in Yamagata. You can see the three wearing their black winter Kimono for the first time this season. And backstage the sisters play around before going on stage. Shana played her solo very well tonight, and they played a Christmas song which everyone enjoyed singing along with.

Experience

In this photo, Brenna helps Shana tune her shamisen before the next song. The tsugaru shamisen must be re-tuned depending on what piece is to be played. Shana is still a little small to reach up and do it herself but is learning by experience on stage how to do it quickly. Sometimes a string will break and must be replaced quickly on the fly. The tsugaru shamisen is relatively fragile instrument since most of the critical parts are natural. The three sisters have just had three performances in three days and are in need of some "down time" and practice time. Their next performance will be next Monday night.