There is a wealth of contemporary compositions for the koto. Since the war, various Japanese composers have expanded the repertoire of this ancient string instrument and provided new contexts for its traditional sonorities while encouraging the development of new and experimental techniques.

The instrument has evolved as well. Its size and number of strings have increased to accommodate ease of modulation and to provide a greater chromatic range. Besides the 13-string traditional koto, many koto players now work with 20-, 25- and 30-string versions. At first anomalies in the hogaku world, performances on these larger koto are now common, and there is a large body of excellent work written especially for them.

While much postwar koto music was composed by the performers themselves or composers trained in classical hogaku, many Western-trained Japanese composers, enchanted by the possibilities of the koto, have also experimented with new works. These composers, since they themselves do not play, usually team up with a talented performer who informs them about the instrument and provides ideas, inspiration and commissions to create new works. The performer and the composer work together, each supporting the other.

There have been several such performer-composer teams over the last few decades. The koto master Keiko Nosaka (who oversaw the creation of the 20-string koto) worked with the composer Minoru Miki in the '60s and '70s to develop a wide range of new koto pieces, such as the hauntingly beautiful "Mebae," which was used as background music for Nagisa Oshima's movie "The Realm of the Senses."

Nanae Yoshimura is another koto player who has actively commissioned and inspired new works for the koto. Her upcoming recital will feature a wide range of works she commissioned for previous recitals as well as a newly commissioned piece.

Born into a musical family, Yoshimura began learning the koto from her mother at age 3. She continued her study of the classics under Soju Nosaka (Keiko Nosaka's mother). Yoshimura went on to study contemporary music under Keiko and became enamored of the 20-string koto. In 1971, Yoshimura decided to specialize in the 20-string koto, and throughout the '70s and '80s, she honed her performance skills while winning various awards for outstanding musical performance. From the late '80s, she teamed up with several young contemporary composers to present a series of recitals of contemporary music. She continues these recitals with "Nanae: New Aspects for Koto."

Although this recital focuses on the contemporary, the performance will open with one of the most difficult of all classical koto pieces, a kumiuta (song suite) titled "Shiki no Kyoku (Song of the Seasons)." Singing is probably the most important element in traditional koto music, but contemporary music often emphasizes only its instrumental aspects. Yoshimura hopes to bring the classic appreciation of song back into the modern sensibility.

"Shiki no Kyoku" will be performed on the traditional 13-string koto, but the rest of the program will feature the 20-string koto. "Upset Jewel Box," written by Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music assistant professor Kiyoshi Furukawa, is the composer's first attempt at composing hogaku. The koto plays three similar sounding but different scales, creating a heterophonic melodic line that weaves through the music. The overall effect is like a box full of brightly colored jewels overturned to spill out its contents.

Somei Sato composed "Kamu Ogi Goto (Koto of the Gods)" for Yoshimura in 1989. Sato notes that the koto is one of the most ancient and revered instruments of Asia, and in some of the ancient writings of Japan, there are references to its use as a vehicle to call down the deities, hence the title of this piece. Sato, who works out of New York, utilizes a multitude of notes from the 20-string koto to create his own world of tranquillity.

"Rurikin," by Akira Nishimura, was originally composed in 1999 for Yoshimura. According to the composer, the title comes from Buddhist imagery: a jeweled koto whose sound delivers people from suffering. This sound is not, however, a serene, healing kind of sound. In his piece, Nishimura envisions the sound as a harsh, stringent one that purges, through a kind of catharsis, the sufferings of the physical world. This technically demanding piece is perfectly suited to Yoshimura's powerful and precise playing style.

The newly commissioned work, by Tokuhide Niimi, is titled "Ame no Manai (Well of Sacred Water)." The title takes its name from "Kojiki," Japan's earliest source book. The sacred well is where Japan's sun goddess Amaterasu washed a sword and jewels she took from her brother, Susanowo. From the froth in the well several other deities, and the nation of Japan, were born.

For Niimi, creating music is akin to being receptive to heavenly inspiration; humans can only re-create what is inspired by the divine. This piece uses voice along with various techniques for the 20-string koto.