Traditional Arts in Modern Japan Series

Welcome to the art of Noh, the traditional Japanese performing art that has been recognized as a world cultural heritage, a unique and profound art with over six hundred years of history. (The kanji for Noh (能) means “skill,” “craft,” or “talent”)

It is quite rare for foreigners in Japan to fall in love with Noh and who have studied Noh to the extent that they in turn become committed to teaching it to others and to spreading it around the world.

Richard Emmert, born in Ohio, is one of those few. He came to Japan over 40 years ago to study Japanese traditional music and by chance he began taking lessons in Noh while studying at the prestigious Tokyo University of the Arts and gradually began to master the various aspects of its performance.

While he was teaching Noh and traditional Japanese performing arts at Musashino University in Tokyo, he became involved in conducting practical Noh workshops both in Japan and abroad through which he has taught many foreigners and Japanese alike. He founded Theatre Nohgaku, a company dedicated to performing Noh in English and has led its performance tours in the US, Europe and Asia.

He is quoted as “an academic, teacher, performer, instrumentalist, composer and director – an extraordinary range of talents for anyone to achieve in a lifetime.”*

You will learn from Professor Emmert all important aspects of Noh such as its “mai” (dance), “utai” (vocal), four “hayashi” (music) instruments and “noh-men” (masks), watch some performances and hear his fascinating story.

Come and join us in this exciting and rare event and be immersed in the of world of Noh.

*Check out this recent publication about Professor Emmert “Getting to Noh: A Tribute to Richard Emmert” and you may find how he is a fascinating and rare Noh talent.

Date & Time:

February 18, 2021 @ 4:00PM (Pacific Time)

February 19, 2021 @ 9:00AM (Japan)

Price: FREE!  (Zoom)

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Our Amazing Speaker

RICHARD EMMERT

Richard is a professor emeritus of classical noh, and Japanese and Asian traditional performing arts at Musashino University in Tokyo. A graduate of Earlham College and Tokyo University of Arts, he has studied, performed and taught classical noh drama performance in Japan since 1973. He is a certified Kita school noh instructor, and directs an ongoing noh workshop in Tokyo. For 20 years, he led the summer intensive three-week Noh Training Project in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble. He leads the annual summer intensive Noh Training Project UK at Royal Holloway, University of London. Since 2017, he has co-organized the three-week Noh Training Project Tokyo which Theatre Nohgaku produces with the Kita School of Noh. During this year of covid, he is one of the instructors of Theatre Nohgaku’s online Noh Training Project (see https://www.theatrenohgaku.org/utai-online) as well as teaches private online students.

[read more]Emmert has co-authored with Monica Bethe a series of seven volumes entitled Noh Performance Guides, and has authored a separate series entitled The Guide to Noh of the National Noh Theatre, both for Tokyo’s National Noh Theatre. He has led extended Noh performance projects in Australia, India, Colombia, Hong Kong, the UK, the US, Mexico and Canada, has composed, directed, and performed in numerous English noh performances, and has released a CD entitled Noh in English by the Japanese Teichiku Records. He has performed in and/or directed several Asian multi-cultural performances including Dragon Bond Rite performed in the US and Hong Kong in 1997 and 1998, and Siddhartha by Teater Cahaya performed in Kuala Lumpur in 2003. The founder and past artistic director of Theatre Nohgaku, he has led TN performance tours of At the Hawk’s Well, Pine Barrens, Pagoda, Sumida River and Blue Moon Over Memphis. He recently was named the award winner of the Koizumi Prize for 2019 for his work with composing English noh.[/read]