Tsugaru flute player Bunta Sato performed live "Wind of Tsugaru in New York" at Carnegie Hall in New York on October 6.

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue known as a landmark in Manhattan, New York. Concerts and live performances of famous artists and famous products are held, and it is the goal of many artists. It was also one goal for Mr. Sato.

In 2006 (Heisei 18), he received the advice from bassist Egawa Watu who has performed in the Shiki Theater Company, etc., "If you are independent as a Tsugaru flute player, aim for a player who can play in the Carnegie Hall." “I got the advice of a senior musician and I started aiming simply,” says Sato.

Mr. Sato is from Aomori and Hirakawa. He started playing Tsugaru Flute at the age of 9, and was the second youngest man in the third year of high school to win the mountain climbing dedication final competition. He has six wins in the competition. In 2011, he gathered 3742 flute players and set a Guinness world record for the number of joint ensemble players.

In 2015, he became independent as a Tsugaru flute player. Not only in the Tsugaru region, but now in Japan, we have started to plan workshops and overseas tours for flutes. It was said that the live performance at Carnegie Hall was assisted by Yui Kitamura, a New York-based composer and representative of the NPO "Muse".

I met Mr. Kitamura because my childhood friend, Mr. Sato, became acquainted with violinist Eriko Washimi during his stay in Italy. The connection began with the encounter with Mr. Kitamura, a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music who was the same as Mr. Washimi.

Mr. Kitamura visited Hirosaki in 2015 and participated in Hirosaki Neputa. "Red Apple" was composed based on Hirosaki's experience, and Mr. Sato co-starred with students of the Juilliard School in New York in 2016 (Heisei 28). The live at Carnegie Hall was decided at this time, but the plan did not go smoothly.

At the Carnegie Hall, the Japanese drum performance was difficult, and the live performance was temporarily suspended. Mr. Sato said, "I might have been able to do it immediately if I played only the Tsugaru flute, but I wanted to bring in the taiko drums and convey the festival spice itself to the New Yorker. According to Mr. Kitamura's negotiations, the live will be carried over by carrying over to the next year.

Mr. Sato said that he felt only success before the start of the live. "I've been rehearsed and I was confident in the finished song. I was able to form a relationship of trust with the co-starring "LA MODA PIANO TRIO" so much that I was invited to karaoke. People and relationships have made a live performance," he said. "When I contacted Egawa the day before the concert, he cried and was pleased."

All 17 songs are shown live. There were also scenes in which the mountain climbing and Shimoyama Bayaya and the "Neputa Hayashi" and "Nebuta Hayashi" were also performed, and the audience was asked to yell at "Neputa Nebuta" from "Yayado" and "Rasseller". "I heard a runny nose during the live. After the performance, I could see the standing ovation from the stage," Sato said.

"I was able to blow "Tsugaru no Kaze" to New York, but there is a loneliness that it is over," he recalls. It is said that there are already requests for performances that will lead to the next, including overseas.

Regarding the future, Mr. Sato said, "I would like to perform a revival performance of Carnegie Hall in my hometown of Aomori. At the same time, I would like to send it from Tsugaru as a model that will pioneer the recovery and support of the local performing arts that are being lost in the area." ..