Kimiyo Ogawa is one of the few women Bandoneon players in the world. A graduate of Nihon University College of Art, she was captivated by the sound of the Bandoneon and taught herself to play. In 2001 she traveled to Buenos Aires to further her studies. She represented Japan at the 2003 Festival de Cosquin (Argentina’s largest music festival) and in.
2005 performed at four other official concerts including one held at the Museum of La Casa Rosada, the offices of the President of Argentina.
She has since performed and recorded with many local artists including Juan Carlos Carabajal and Gustavo Ariel Jones. In 2010, she toured Bolivia, Patagonia, and Buenos Aires with charango player Daiji Fukuda and zampona player Hiroyasu Okada to great critical acclaim. The city of Trelew, Patagonia made her an honorary citizen for her recordings and performances with Gustavo Ariel Jones.
In 2011, Ogawa invited Argentine pianist Jose Hernan Cibils, who is based in Germany, to tour with her in Japan. They toured the length of the country from Sapporo to Okinawa in 20 days, including a charity concert in the earthquake- stricken northeast. Ogawa also performed with pianist Gabriel Vallejo and other local musicians in Paris in 2012.
Ogawa considers performing solo as her life’s work. She has toured to high acclaim in Europe and Asian countries such as Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Cambodia. She has been a regular at Asian Art Exchange, an arts festival in South Korea, since 2007. Not limiting herself to Argentine Tango, she collaborates with musicians and artists in diverse genres for CD recordings, concerts, theater and dance performances, and video and film production, and contemporary art events.
In 2017, Ogawa represented Japan for the second time at Festival de Cosquin. Her concert in Buenos Aires was well received by local musicians and Japanese immigrants to Argentina. She developed a friendship with Francisco Alejandro Torne, the grandson of the legendary maestro Anibal Troilo, who had been invited to the concert.
In February 2018, Ogawa recorded tango music played on Troilo’s beloved Bandoneon, now owned by the World Tango Museum in Buenos Aires. The CD will be released in July and a live tour with the instrument in Japan is scheduled for October.
In 2021, she is invited to France, where cultural activities have begun by COVID-19. She participates in gallery concerts and online distribution concerts in Paris. She has performed two concerts with the Mezcal Jazz Unit based in Castelnau, Southern France.
Ogawa has performed live and recorded with many other musicians of diverse musical genres. Also dedicated to teaching, she runs Jabaratai, a Bandoneon orchestra.
For more information, visit:
Kimiyo Ogawa official website:
http://www5c.biglobe.ne.jp/~kimiyo/
