Japanese Community
Artist: Miki McCorkle
Title: Chidori no Kyoku (A song for Plover)
Instrument: Koto
Artist Bio and Instrument Description
Miki Yomura Mccorkle was born in Tokyo, Japan, and moved to the U.S. in 1990. She is currently a resident in Midlothian, VA, and is very active in the community. She is a mother of two, the oldest son Kendall who takes on his craft in music as well as an audio engineer, and Sean who is a college student. Aside from working, Miki spends her time playing a Japanese musical instrument called koto.
Koto is a kind of zither with 13 strings plucked with three picks. She learned the traditional style of playing it from her grandmother who was a master of koto school in Tokyo for almost 80 years.
It is very important for Miki to incorporate her heritage in playing the koto by doing so she feels closer and connected to her grandmother.
Title: Chidori no Kyoku (A song for Plover)
This is a musical composition for koto, composed by Yoshizawa Kengyo (1800-1872). The song was composed based on 13th century poems about Chidori (plover). Plovers are a type of wading birds commonly found on the shores of swamps and lakes. The birds' fluttering and chirping on the quiet shore is depicted in this song.