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"I am truly honored and privileged to know Shirley for so many years.
Her koto playing and energy for constant creativity is inspirational
to me. Her spirit and soul touches me deeply. I am forever grateful
to her for her friendship and her sharing of musical knowledge and
philosophies with me to help me grow as a musician and composer
but most important as a person."

June Kuramoto, Hiroshima
Jazz Group
"Once in a very great while, a
person of such immense talent and vision enters your experience
that your life is forever changed. Such is the quality of Shirley
Muramoto. Very rarely does one find another person whose ability
as a teacher matches her superb talent as a musician. Many can play,
many can teach. Few can do both equally well at the highest level
of achievement."

Frank Jennings, PhD.,
Retired Principal, Montclair Elementary School, Oakland, CA
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The koto is a traditional Japanese
stringed musical instrument, a type of plucked zither. It is the
national instrument of Japan.
Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto, a native of Oakland, California, continues
a long tradition of Japanese koto music in America. From childhood,
Muramoto was fortunate to receive training on various styles of
koto music from such masters as Kazue Kudo, Tomoko Sunazaki, Yoko
Gates and from her mother, Madame Kazuko Muramoto.
In 1976, Muramoto received her Shihan degree (Instructor's license)
with Yushusho (highest ranking honors) at the Chikushi School in
Fukuoka, Japan. Her ability to perform on the koto from traditional
to contemporary to jazz gives her the distinction of being one of
the few koto musicians to be able to perform in a variety of styles.
She has performed at various universities, concerts and events in
the U.S., Canada and Japan, including performances with cinematic
composer Maurice Jarre, the Sacramento Symphony, the Marin Symphony
and with shakuhachi master John Kaizan Neptune. She has also performed
professionally with such notable musicians as Grammy nominated mandolinist
David Grisman, Grammy nominated bluegrass vocalist/fiddler/composer
Laurie Lewis, Ethiopian musical artist Elias Negash, and Latin jazz
percussionist Pete Escovedo.
Additionally, Shirley's koto mastery has enhanced various advertisement
productions for corporate companies including Chevron, Pringles,
FusionOne, and Yahoo.com (shown during a Super Bowl).
Muramoto has performed for dignitaries such as San Francisco Mayor
Willie Brown, former Secretary of State George Schultz, Vice President
Al Gore and Mikhail Gorbachev.
Muramoto is also the director of The Murasaki Ensemble, a chamber
jazz group that incorporates koto with Middle Eastern percussion,
flute, guitar and bass.
A dedicated musician for over forty years, Shirley strives to involve
diverse genres of art and musical performance into the many entertainment
productions she finds herself involved with.
In 1998, Shirley began teaching koto at the University of California,
Berkeley. Also a private teacher for thirty years, the student performances
she has produced, in addition to the koto, are presented with storytelling,
poetry, hip-hop, modern dance and taiko drums.
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