Togi, Suenobu
Togi, Suenobu
Togi, Suenobu, Japanese performer and ethnomusicologist; b. Tokyo, Jan. 1, 1932. He attended the Imperial Court Music School in Tokyo (1943-52), where he learned Japanese court music and dance as well as Western music (cello and violin); also studied Western music at the Tokyo Univ. of Fine Arts (1950-52). He taught and performed in the Imperial Court Music Dept. in both the Japanese Court Orch. (gagaku and bugaku) and the Imperial Court Orch. (Western music) from 1952 to 1961; then went to the U.S., where he taught Japanese court music and dance at the Univ. of Calif., Los Angeles (1961). He returned to Tokyo in 1964; in 1968, joined the faculty at the Univ. of Calif., Los Angeles; also gave concerts and lectures throughout the U.S. Togi is the only former court musician teaching gagaku outside of Japan. He employs the strictest court tradition (which determines gagaku practice throughout Japan); revisited Tokyo in 1973 and 1985 to remain current with changes in Imperial practice.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire