Kinnara was formed in 1969 by Rev. Masao Kodani and several members of Senshin Buddhist Temple and includes a Gagaku group of 15-20 musicians and dancers and a Taiko group. It sponsors study groups and conducts seminars on Buddhist culture and performing arts.
Gagaku is the oldest existing tradition of orchestral music and dance in the world, representing the court music and dance of ancient Asia (central Asia, southeast Asia, India, China, Manchuria, Korea, and Japan). It is the collective music of these areas up to the 10th century and as early as the beginning of the common era. This music is preserved and performed to this day in Japan and, to a lesser degree, in Korea. In Japan, it became part of the liturgical music and dance of our Jodoshinshu sect in the 17th century and has been performed in our temples in America since the early 1900s.
Kinnara had the rare opportunity to study gagaku under the guidance of Professor Suenobu Togi, emeritus professor of the Department of Ethnomusicology at UCLA and musician in the Imperial Household Department of Court Music in Japan. He taught the group from 1969-2010. Kinnara Gagaku continues to perform at various temples for special services, as well as at cultural centers and universities. In October 2023, Kinnara Gagaku performed at Walt Disney Hall in downtown Los Angeles for the celebration of their 20th anniversary. https://senshintemple.org/groups/kinnara/
This concert is presented in conjunction with the symposium “Music Alive in the Archive: Legacy and Promise--65 Years of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive,” a two-day event in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive.
Co-sponsored by the Hiroshi Wagatsuma Memorial Faculty Grant from the UCLA Asia Pacific Center, the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive, the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology, and the Dean’s Office, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.