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Berkeley-born koto master Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto uses melodies from traditional Japanese court music to interpret a diverse cross section of music, including rhythm ‘n’ blues, reggae, Ethiopian music and jazz. 

“Jazz is changing a lot these days,” said Muramoto. “People are able to take what’s in their background, traditionally or classically, and work that into new music. That’s what [her jazz band] Murasaki Ensemble is about. We grew up with rock, jazz, all kinds of influences. And being from the Bay Area we’re lucky enough to get even more influences from so many diverse cultures. You get all these people together from those kinds of backgrounds, that’s exciting.” 

Muramoto exemplifies a new generation of koto players who are taking the six-foot-long, 10-inch-wide instrument in new directions, away from traditional Japanese court music. Sometimes referred to as an “Asian piano,” the 13-stringed koto originated in China over 4,000 years ago. 

“You have to tune it before you play it. It’s not like a piano where you can just sit down and start playing,” said Muramoto. “When I play koto I usually base it on five tones, an Asian pentatonic scale, very similar to a blues scale. That’s why I’m able to play blues. I can tune with whomever I’m going to be playing with. I play with Elias Negash, an Ethiopian jazz pianist in Oakland. He asked me to play with him on a couple of Ethiopian songs. I was just blown away because they were just regular scales for me. ‘This is Ethiopian music?’ ... The more I play with other people, it seems like a smaller world, musically. There’re a lot of things that are very similar all over.” 

“We get to stretch out a lot. I just follow my guitarist wherever he goes. We did some surfer music the other day,” Muramoto said, laughing. “Then all of a sudden we’re playing ‘I Shot the Sheriff.’ I was thinking, ‘God, am I doing this on the koto?’” 

In addition to leading the Murasaki Ensemble, Muramoto teaches koto at UC Berkeley and has raised two children. Her oldest son, 18, studies music at Cal State Hayward and plays the koto. Her younger son, 16, attends Oakland High School and studies martial arts. 

“You can say I’ve been playing and teaching instruments for about 45 years,” she said, laughing, when asked her age. 

Muramoto earned her Shihan degree (instructor’s license) with Yushusho (highest ranking honors) at the Chikushi School in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1976. A fourth-generation Japanese American, she learned to play the koto at her mother’s knee. Her mother, in turn, learned during World War II while interned at America’s notorious Tule Lake and Topaz Internment camps for ethnic-Japanese American citizens. 

“My mother was a child at that time,” Muramoto said. “My grandparents were born here. They were American citizens and lived in San Mateo. They lost everything when they were ‘relocated.’ They didn’t talk about it too much. It was one of those things they didn’t want to discuss. They were among the Japanese Americans who gave up their citizenship after the war. Because of that they had to move to Japan. It was a very difficult experience for all of them. My grandmother didn’t speak Japanese. She was an American. She was born here.” 

As the mother of a student at Oakland High School, she has been working to save the school’s music program. 

“Every year it’s been a struggle,” she said. “Just to keep the arts going on there. The city of Oakland decided to make all the high schools into academies, so they just concentrate on certain aspects of education ... I know for a fact in Oakland they gave pink slips to all the music teachers. That means they’re cutting all of it. It’s scary what’s happening. It seems like it’s a roller-coaster going down.” 

The Murasaki Ensemble performs at the Annual Satsuki Arts Festival and Bazaar on Sunday, May 18, from noon to 7 p.m. Located at the Berkeley Buddhist Temple, 2121 Channing Way, the two-day event, starting Saturday, May 17, is free.