In this free concert by Oki, the most prominent tonkori performer in the world, his band and female singers of Marewrew, Kennedy Center audiences heard music that fused Reggae, African and Electronica with Ainu folk melodies. During the concert a video screen displayed beautiful images from the Ainu tradition. The tonkori is a long, flat instrument that produces its own distinct sound and is the only stringed instrument in the Karafuto Ainu musical tradition. Oki’s contemporary approach has won him praise in Japan and around the world.
ARTSEDGE, the Kennedy Center's arts education network, supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts, offering free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment. Visit ARTSEDGE at artsedge.kennedy-center.org.