In 1979, five students of the shakuhachi master Hozan Yamamoto got together and created a performance group. All had extensive training in the classics, but, as students of one of the most innovative shakuhachi players of the 20th century, all wanted to expand the shakuhachi repertoire and create new music.

The result, a shakuhachi quintet, was named, appropriately, Shakuhachi 1979. The members include Taizan Kawamura, Seizan Ishigaki, Suizan Sakai, Hozan Nomura and Chikuzan Nanba.

Beginning with youthful energy, they originally performed several concerts each year, both in and outside of Tokyo. After going through the existing repertoire of contemporary music for multiple shakuhachi, they began commissioning pieces and composing their own original pieces.

Twenty-one years have passed since these five men formed their group, and since then countless numbers of other young shakuhachi players have come and gone. Some formed groups, had their day in the sun, then disbanded. Shakuhachi 1979 is still around (although there was a recent five-year hiatus when they stopped performing), and no other group has been quite as successful or lasted as long. The members are now respected (and busy) mid-career shakuhachi players, each with an impressive career and numerous students. Yet they still find time to present a group concert once a year.

Their upcoming concert will feature four new pieces, each composed by one of the members. The quality of their music and depth of their artistry makes this a highly recommended concert for all shakuhachi lovers.

Shakuhachi 1979, Original Concert Part 20, 7 p.m. July 18 at Bunkyo Civic Hall, (03) 5803-1100, next to Korakuen subway station (Marunouchi and Nanboku lines) or Kasuga Station (Toei Mita Line). Admission 3,000 yen in advance, 3,500 yen at the door. For reservations or more information call (in Japanese) Taizan Kawamura, (03) 3993-5551 or Seizan Ishigaki, (03) 5396-5378.

Satomi Fukami, in her koto recital last December at Kioi Hall, amazed the audience with her flawless technique, command of the traditional metier and power to make classic music come alive for modern audiences. Due to popular demand (the limited seating in the hall meant that many people had to be turned away at the door), she will present a similar recital in the larger National Theater Small Hall.

Fukami is considered one of the most innovative mid-career hogaku performers. Her highly disciplined style based on the classics is combined with a modern sensibility which enables her to perform contemporary music with technical perfection and liveliness. She has commissioned and performed a number of new works for the koto and, in doing so, has greatly added to the koto and shamisen repertory.

Fukami began her studies of traditional Japanese koto music with her mother as a child before coming under the tutelage of the outstanding master and Living National Treasure, the late Kiyoko Miyagi. Fukami graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (Geidai) in the early '70s, and her performances have garnered a number of prestigious awards, including the Grand Prize for the annual government-sponsored arts festival in 1983. She performs frequently around the world and presently teaches at Geidai.

Although Fukami's repertoire includes an array of contemporary pieces, the upcoming recital will feature only classics -- but with a twist. They will all be performed with her own, modern interpretations. This can be dangerous. After all, most classical hogaku music is considered already perfected. In Fukami's interpretations, though, one learns how much further the piece can actually extend.

This was proven last December, when she and fellow koto master Keiko Nosaka (also a pioneer of contemporary koto music) performed "Yaegoromo," one of the most interesting and engaging of the Edo Period koto and shamisen jiuta compositions. Jiuta are characterized by lengthy and musically complicated instrumental interludes, and "Yaegoromo" contains several. During one such interlude, each player took turns performing a lengthy cadenzalike solo which took thematic material from the piece, yet developed it with a contemporary sensibility.

During the Edo Period, jiuta performances often contained highly controlled improvised sections where the performers would try to outplay their accompanists, much to the delight of the audience. This practice has unfortunately died out in the 20th century. Fukami and Nosaka's efforts in reintroducing this practice may inspire other players as well.

This concert will also feature "Zangetsu (The Lingering Moon)" and "Akikaze no Kyoku (The Autumn Wind)," both with Fukami's interpretations.