is a Japanese

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

and

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

player. She has been a primary figure in the development of the marimba, in terms of expanding both technique and repertoire, and through her collaboration with the

Yamaha Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate with a very wide range of products and services. It is one of the constituents of Nikkei 225 and is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturing company. The former motorcycle divi ...

, developed the modern five-octave concert marimba.

Biography

Abe began playing the

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in ...

while in elementary school in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, Japan, studying under Eiichi Asabuki. At age 13, she won an

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

talent contest and began performing professionally on live radio. She attended

Tokyo Gakugei University Tokyo Gakugei University (東京学芸大学, ''Tōkyō gakugei daigaku'') is a national university in Koganei, Tokyo. Founded in 1873, it was chartered as a university in 1949. It is also known as ''Gakudai'' (学大) and TGU, for short. In ad ...

where she completed a bachelor's and master's degree in music education. She began working in the Nippon Columbia, NHK, and other recording studios while in college. In 1962, she and two friends (who were also students of Asabuki) founded the Xebec Marimba Trio, performing popular music, arrangements of folk songs and some of Abe's arrangements. They recorded more than seven albums between 1962 and 1966. During this period, she had her own show on Japanese television, instructing schoolchildren in

playing, as well as a radio show called "Good Morning Marimba". She also began her recording career, putting out 13 albums in a five-year span. In 1963, the

sought Japanese

players to assist in the design of their new instruments; Keiko Abe was chosen for her original and clear ideas of the marimba sound and design, particularly her concept of how the marimba should be able to blend in ensembles, for example, moving away from the inconsistencies and lack of focus of folk percussion instruments. Her ideas for the desired sound of the instruments guided Yamaha's design, and in the 1970s, began production. In addition, at her urging, the range of the new marimba was stretched from four octaves to five, which has become the standard for soloists. Abe has been closely associated with Yamaha ever since, and their first ever signature series of keyboard percussion mallets bears her name. Her compositions, including "Michi", " Variations on Japanese Children's Songs", and " Dream of the Cherry Blossoms", have become standards of the

repertoire. Abe is active in promoting the development of literature for the marimba, not only by writing pieces herself, but also by commissioning works by other composers and encouraging young composers. She has added at least 70 compositions to the repertoire. She uses improvisation as an important element in developing her musical ideas which she then uses in her compositions. In addition to her intensive composing, touring, and recording schedule, Abe has been a lecturer, then professor, at the

Toho Gakuen School of Music is a private music school in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. History Toho Gakuen was founded in 1948 in Ichigaya (Tokyo) as the Music School for Children, and two years later moved to Sengawa (current address at Wakabacyo, Chofushi, Tokyo) and opened th ...

in Tokyo since 1970. She was the first woman to be inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1993. Abe uses the YM-6100 Marimba. This modern concert marimba design, with five octaves of range, was developed with Abe in partnership with the

over a fifteen-year period (from 1969 to 1984). In addition to performing, she is a composer. Her music is published primarily by Xebec Music Publishing, Tokyo and Schott, Japan. In May 2021, Abe was one of 10 new members elected to the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music ( sv, Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. At the time of its foundation, only one of its co-founder was a professional musician, Ferdin ...

, alongside Marika Field,

Katarina Karnéus Katarina Esmé Marie Karnéus (born 26 November 1965) is a Swedish mezzo-soprano opera singer, winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, active on many of the opera world's major stages such as the Metropolitan Opera and the Pa ...

, Jonas Knutsson, Sten Sandell,

Đuro Živković Đuro Živković, also rendered as Djuro Zivkovic ( Serbian Cyrillic: Ђуро Живковић; born 1975), is a Serbian-Swedish composer and violinist. He has lived in Stockholm, Sweden, since 2000. Biography Živković was born in Belgrade ...

Richard Sparks Richard Andrew Sparks (born August 29, 1950) is an American choral conductor. He is one of the leading figures in choral music in the Pacific Northwest and in Scandinavian, especially Swedish a cappella, choral music. Early life and education Sp ...

, Giancarlo Andretta, Stefan Dohr, and

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

References

* J. Michele Edwards. "Keiko Abe", '' Grove Music Online'', ed. L. Macy (accessed February 14, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access). * Rebecca Kite. "Keiko Abe, A Virtuosic Life: Her Musical Career and the Development of the Concert Marimba", published 2007, GP Percussio

* TRAPS Magazine interview, Spring 2007

External links

Keiko Abe's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abe, Keiko 1937 births 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Japanese composers 20th-century women composers 21st-century classical composers 21st-century Japanese composers 21st-century women composers Toho Gakuen School of Music faculty Classical percussionists Japanese classical composers Japanese women classical composers Japanese percussionists Living people Marimbists Musicians from Tokyo Women in classical music Women marimbists Women percussionists 21st-century Japanese women musicians