Japanese Marimba: Keiko Abe

In summer 2024, I traveled to Tokyo to study the Japanese marimba tradition through the music and legacy of Keiko Abe, a project shaped equally by artistic curiosity and my own Japanese heritage. Through private lessons with Abe, participation in the Keiko Abe International Marimba Academy, and time spent exploring the cultural and natural environments that inspire her work, I examined how Japanese aesthetics, history, and lived experience inform this repertoire. My research and performances focused on the emergence of the marimba in Japan, Abe’s influential commissions and compositions, and the expressive concepts—such as ma, the power of silence and space—that define her musical language. This project culminated in a capstone presentation blending performance, research, and personal reflection on how identity, culture, and sound intersect in the modern marimba’s voice.