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☆PROFILE
木村 弓 (きむら・ゆみ)
大阪生まれ。神戸女学院から16歳で単身渡米。現地のハイスクールを経て、カリフォルニア州立大学に進学し、ピアノを専攻。帰国後、声楽家を志望して歌と演劇を勉強するが、途中健康を害して一時歌を断念。再起への模索を通じて、瞑想や、身体と心と声の関係を学び、癒しや祈りに関わる歌の世界を研究。
1988年、ドイツの思想家 R・シュタイナーの人間観に共感した人達によって考案された 竪琴ライアー
と出会い、独自の弾き語りを確立。2001年、宮崎駿監督作品 「千と千尋の神隠し」の主題歌「いつも何度でも」を作曲して歌い、一躍脚光を浴びる。第43回日本レコード大賞金賞、第56回毎日映画コンクール音楽賞、第25回日本アカデミー賞主題歌賞受賞。
2004年、アルバム「流星」(2003年)に詩人・谷川俊太郎氏と共作し収録した 「世界の約束」が、再び宮崎駿監督の映画 「ハウルの動く城」の主題歌に起用される。
2006年日豪交流年公式プログラムとしてオーストラリアの各都市で公演。
以後ライアーの弾き語りにとどまらず、ピアノとのデュオをはじめ、ストリングスや古楽器などとも共演する中、2015年には上海オリエンタル・アート・センターで、スコットランド出身のアイリッシュ・ハーピスト・歌手のケイティ・ターゲット・アダムズ氏とジョイント・コンサートを行い大好評を博す。その後もダンスとのコラボレーションなど、様々な形態でコンサート活動を続けている。
これまでに ２枚のシングル、７枚のアルバムを徳間ジャパンコミュニケーションズよりリリース。
☆Youmi's background
Born in, Osaka, Japan, Youmi grew up in the suburbs. She entered Kobe College High School and at the age of 16, she travelled to California by herself. After graduating from high school there, she studied piano under Ena Bronstein and Philip Lorenz at California State University, Fresno.
However it was after returning to Japan that she then focused her efforts on the study of voice. Unfortunately after some time, the emergence of a spinal problem forced her to temporarily give up singing. Youmi gradually regained her health and in 1988 she discovered the Gartner lyre, an instrument invented by the followers of Rudolf Steiner in the early 20th century. Since learning that instrument, one of Youmi’s main styles of performing has been to sing with the accompaniment of the soothing sounds of the lyre.
In 2001, the song “Itsumo Nando Demo”(Always With Me), composed and sung by Youmi, was selected as the theme song for the animated film “Spirited Away”, directed by the internationally acclaimed Hayao Miyazaki. Not only did the theme song quickly become a huge hit in Japan, but Youmi was honored with the Japan academy Award for “Best Theme Song”, the Japanese “Golden Award for Best Selling Record” and shared the Mainichi Film Competition Award for “Best Movie Soundtrack”. The film “Spirited Away” proved to be the top grossing film in Japanese history then, winning such prestigious awards as the “Golden Bear Award for Best Picture” at the Berlin Film Festival, the “Best Animated Feature Film” award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and many others.
In 2003 “Sekai No Yakusoku” (The Promise of the World) was released, a song which Youmi composed in collaboration with Japan’s most beloved poet of today, Shuntaoro Tanikawa. Later “Sekai No Yakusoku” was once again chosen as the theme song of Miyazaki’s film, “Howl’s Moving Castle” (In the movie, it was sung by Chieko Baisho who did the voice of the heroine.).
To date Youmi has released two singles and seven albums under the Tokuma Japan Communications label, while continuing to appear at numerous concerts throughout the country. In addition to performing solo with her lyre, Youmi often sings with the accompaniment of various instruments; including the piano, guitar, other stringed instruments and entire orchestras. The live recording of the concert "The music of Studio Ghibli with Orchestra", in which Youmi participated singing "Sekai No Yakusoku" with them, has been reliesed as a CD album under the U-can label in 2019.
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Profile