Kumiko Yabu - Percussionist / Composer.
Born in Osaka, currently living in Kyoto.
She studied sound engineering for theatre at Obirin University (BA in Performing Arts). In 2008, she studied collaborative composition for Gamelan (MA in Community Music) at the University of York, UK with a grant from Japan cultural affairs.
Also she studied Gamelan at Indonesian National University of Arts (ISI Yogyakarta) on scholarship programme by Indonesian government (DARMASISWA) for a year.
In 2014, She started a Creative Gamelan Group called "Sekar Gendis" based in Kyoto.
Works to date have included music for dance and film such as "Wall Flowers" (choreographed by Momoko Shiraga), "hospitalité" (filmed by Koji Fukada) which was the winner in the Japanese Eyes at Tokyo International Film Festival.
As a percussionist/ Improviser, she has played in various international festivals such as Ergodos Festival (Ireland), Buxton Festival (England), Kontraste Festival (Austria), Aichi Triennale 2010 (Japan) ,Yogyakarta Gamelan Festival 2011 (Indonesia),Segni New Generation Festival 2016 (Italy) etc.
