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ABOUT THIS SACD At just 25 Japanese classical guitarist Kaori Muraji is a huge star in her native country, with a string of top-selling recordings behind her. She is now set for a glittering international career with a new exclusive contract with Decca. This first international recording is this collection of beautifully arranged popular songs, many in arrangements by Japanese composer Takemitsu. One look at the tracklist will tell you how accessible this album is. Joining Kaori for two of the tracks is Sting's guitarist Dominic Miller (who himself released a highly successful solo album Shapes in 2004) and the combination of outstanding talent from classical and crossover approaches to the same instrument creates a very special kind of magic. Japanese classical guitarists are few and far between, and the instrument itself is not often heard in Japan, but the photogenic young star has already begun to change that. Kaori Muraji began lessons with her guitarist father, Muraji Noboru, at the age of 3: "The guitar has always been part of my life. I don't even remember when I started playing it," she says. “It soon became second nature to me to play it every day. Even before I started school, I couldn't imagine life without a guitar. ” Born in Tokyo in 1978, Muraji was 10 when, at her father's suggestion, she began studying under Fukuda Shin'ichi, one of Japan's most talented guitarists. The following year (1989), she took top prize in the Junior Guitar Contest: “I never enrolled in special training sessions for children, or 'child prodigy' classes," she reveals, though she quickly acquired a reputation as ‘a young guitar virtuoso’, becoming the youngest musician to take first place in several different competitions - the winner of the Student Guitar Competition in both 1989 and 1991, and the youngest ever student to win the Leo Brouwer International Guitar Concours and Tokyo International Guitar Concours in 1992. Other awards include first prizes at the Mobile Music Award (1994) and the Muramatsu Award (1996). At the age of 14, Kaori Muraji made her recital debut in March 1993 at Tsuda Hall in Tokyo, while October that year saw the release of her first CD. The next year she played with the Japan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. In January 1995, her second CD appeared, followed by an album of works by J.S.Bach and Handel in July 1996. In March 1995 she was presented with the 5th Idemitsu Music Awards. A year later, Kaori Muraji was invited to Italy where she played Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez in three concerts (her European debut) with Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI. A televised performance was broadcast all over Europe and was met with great public and critical acclaim. In 1997 came her fourth CD (of works by Rodrigo) and in 1998 her fifth (entitled Cavatina, with pieces by Tork, Barrios, Sagreras, Brouwer and Myers) both winning rave reviews and becoming best sellers. After high school, between 1997 and 1999, Kaori Muraji studied under Albert Ponce at L’École Normale de Musique de Paris - "When I studied in Japan, I was content just playing music the way I was taught,” she admits, “but after I went abroad I learned how important it is to play from my own heart.” She returned to Japan in June 1999, and gave thirty concerts in the ensuing six months, also appearing on TV and in commercials. Since then, Kaori Muraji has been active as a recitalist as well as soloist with major Japanese orchestras. In May 2002, she performed to huge success with the Orquesta de Camara Joaquin Rodrigo on their Japan tour as a part of the centennial events of Rodrigo's birth. A highlight of the 2002 season included performances for the encore tour with the Vogler Quartet in Mach 2003. Muraji’s most recent CD releases have been of Rodrigo’s Concerto de Aranjuez coupled with Malcolm Arnold’s Serenade for guitar and strings, and Resplandor de la Guitarra featuring other works by Rodrigo. In addition, her first DVD Contrastes was released in November 2001. Now firmly established as one of the top artists of the new generation of musicians in Japan, Kaori Muraji, under the Decca banner, is sure to become a world-wide household name. "Decca is very proud to welcome Kaori Muraji to the Decca family of artists. Muraji-san is not only one of the finest classical guitarists in the world - she is also one of the few classical artists performing before the public today who have the ability to communicate with the younger generation and to bring classical music to a wider audience. She is intelligent, charming and beautiful. In other words, Muraji-san is a star and we look forward to introducing her to the rest of the world." Costa Pilivachi, President of Decca International |
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