Happy birthday, Ms. Abe!

Today is the 80th birthday of a person who has had a tremendous influence in the marimba world: Keiko Abe.

It is not the purpose of this article to detail her career, achievements or insist on the tremendous importance of her figure (all of that already well known), but to wish her a very happy birthday on this very significant date and to remember the fantastic days of music-making that I shared with her almost fourteen years ago.

During my time in London, she visited the Royal Academy for a week to teach us. I played for her solo works by Japanese composers (Tanaka, Miyoshi, Abe…). We also played “Conversation in the Forest III” and “Marimba Concertino The Wave” with her. I keep unforgetable memories of those days.

Obviously, we were spected to play at our best which, together with Keiko´s never ending stamina, made for a very hard and demanding week, yet extremely rewarding.

From that fantastic experience, apart from unforgettable memories, I keep a CD of that recital, a very precious possession of mine that I still play from time to time.

When playing some solo works for her, I got extremely surprised when, having finished with Tanaka´s “Two Movements”, she asked me to start over again. She joined me improvising a second part to the written one. I will remember that duo for ever.

Check track 14 HERE to listen to a fragment of that concert.

A wonderful person, full with boundless energy, extremely polite and a rare musical talent. Happy 80th birthday, Ms. Abe!

…et in Arcadia ego.