![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rubinmuseum.org\/images\/content\/Sumie_Web_Inset.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSpiral Music presents acoustic music every Wednesday evening at the base of the Museum\u2019s spiral staircase. Artists who specialize in music from the Himalayas and South Asia are invited to forge a connection between their music and the art in the galleries.<\/p>\n
Sumie Kaneko is a Japanese koto and shamisen player as well as a singer\/songwriter who has been recognized as a pioneer for her chromatic use of the instruments. Her musical projects include blending Japanese traditional elements with jazz improvisation. She began playing koto when she was five years old and was broadcasted by the Japanese Broadcasting Corp.-Nippon H\u014ds\u014d Ky\u014dkai (NHK) by the age of six. In 1995 Kaneko won the Takasaki International Competition in koto performance. She studied Japanese traditional music at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music then studied jazz vocal performance at Berklee College of Music in 2006. Her second album, Dead of the Night, will be released in July 2016.<\/p>\n