Ensemble Sankyoku

Japanese Chamber Music

For one evening, the abbey church of Romainmôtier will resonate with the sounds of Japan. Ensemble Sankyoku brings together four exceptional performers around sankyoku, the traditional Japanese chamber music born in the Edo period in the salons of blind music masters, the kengyō. It features three emblematic instruments: the koto, a thirteen-string zither; the shamisen, a three-string lute; and the shakuhachi, an end-blown bamboo flute, joined by the voice. Detached from theatre and dance, “music for music’s sake” with an emphasis on pure artistic value, sankyoku remains to this day one of the most vibrant fields of the Japanese music scene.

On stage, two undisputed masters from Tokyo will enter into dialogue with two leading figures in the promotion of this music in Europe, for an encounter as rare as it is precious.

Hiroko Hirano (koto, shamisen and voice), winner of the prestigious Miyagi Prize, is a professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts and a regular guest on the music programmes of the national broadcaster NHK. Kizan Kawamura (shakuhachi), grand master of the Tozan school, notably won the Grand Prix at Japan’s National Traditional Music Competition in 2009. Based in France since 2005, Mieko Miyazaki (koto, shamisen and voice) pursues an acclaimed international career. She is notably behind the world-premiere transcription of Bach’s Goldberg Variationsfor solo koto. Suizan Lagrost (shakuhachi), a flautist by training who became a grand master (daishihan) of the Tozan school, performs in some fifteen countries and represents the ShinTozan-ryū school in France.

Whether you are a music lover, curious about Japanese culture or familiar with Japan through manga and animation, this concert is for everyone: an invitation to immerse yourself fully in a musical art rarely heard in Europe.

Built around the year 1000 by the monks of Cluny, the abbey church of Romainmôtier, one of Switzerland’s oldest Romanesque sanctuaries, will offer these sounds from afar the setting of its thousand-year-old stones and generous acoustics.

Practical information

Monday 2 November 2026 · Abbey church of Romainmôtier Doors 7:30 pm · concert 8 pm CHF 30 · reduced price CHF 25