Atsuko Hirayanagi

Groovy, psychedelic, droney and hypnotic, Atsuko Chiba's latest offering takes listeners down a path of epic sprawling soundscapes. Water, It Feels Like It’s Growing is as stylistically diverse as it is thematically-anchored, as oddly catchy as it is thoroughly challenging. Asymmetric, yet seamless time signatures, otherworldly synthetic frequencies, patented harmonies, raga-inspired melodies, cryptic lyrics and orchestral arrangements co-exist within this surreal musical tale recounting one’s relation to their environment.

What could be more French than the silvery sound, dreamy arpeggios, and airy elegance of the flute? All the works on Atsuko Koga's new Genuin recording were composed in France and represent more than a century of flute history. All are also directly or indirectly connected to the tradition-rich Paris Conservatoire, where Eugène Bozza, André Caplet, and Gabriel Fauré studied and taught, as well as our two contemporaries, Fuminori Tanada and Rika Suzuki from Japan. The highly virtuosic pieces of these latter two composers – recorded here in world premiere recordings – were written for Atsuko Koga. They are as much a testament to her skill as the other Impressionist and early modern works.

On their new GENUIN release, the internationally award-winning flutist Atsuko Koga and her fellow musicians Georgiy Lomakov (cello) and Radoslaw Kurek (piano) bring together music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Gabriel Fauré, and Charles Martin Loeffler.

On their new GENUIN release, the internationally award-winning flutist Atsuko Koga and her fellow musicians Georgiy Lomakov (cello) and Radoslaw Kurek (piano) bring together music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Gabriel Fauré, and Charles Martin Loeffler. The trio's airy, free sound with its unusual combination of instruments is a perfect match for the three works, which represent the piano trio genre in completely different ways: Beethoven's Gassenhauer Trio as an amusing and witty play on stereotypes of its time, Fauré's late work as a detached and intimate meditation, and finally Loeffler's misty impressionistic poems an absolute discovery!

On her 8th GENUIN CD, the Japanese flutist Atsuko Koga once again proves her incredible musicality and versatility. This time, she presents works for flute, violin, and cello with the internationally award-winning violinist Riyo Uemura and the world-renowned cellist Georgiy Lomakov. The high-caliber trio performs music from the past four centuries, ranging from examples of Classical works by Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven to Claude Debussy's delicate flourishes, Heitor Villa-Lobos' and Eugène Bozza's moderate modernism, and Yassen Vodenitcharov's miniatures inspired by Classical Antiquity in a world premiere recording.