:::English:::
Growing up in a supportive family environment where listening to live classical orchestra music was encouraged, Goh Kurosawa become a frequent visitor to symphony concert halls since the age of three. This was also the time he started taking piano lessons from his mother who continued to teach him throughout his youth. During his three years in high school in Japan, Goh conducted, directed, orchestrated and arranged for the school mandolin orchestra. At a regional mandolin festival, he was praised for being a "phenomenal" conductor, and the committee decided to create a special award for his outstanding performance. Many thought he would continue walking the musical path as a conductor; however because of his desire to perform the notes physically, he chose to take the journey with the guitar.
Shortly after completing his formal musical training in the United States, Goh realized that it was necessary to have a versatile and creative ensemble that could sustain his compositions, arrangements, and improvisations. In 2004, he formed a trio known today as Sharp Three; a unique mixture of Asian & Western jazz-styles injected with progressive twists and classical reflections (or in short, "Creative Global Soundscapes"). SHARP THREE, the self-titled LP containing nine original compositions, has garnished rave reviews and recognitions from acclaimed critics of jazz, folk, progressive rock, classical music, acoustic music, and magazines such as GUITAR PLAYER (USA).
In addition to having a four-year liberal arts education which included the literature of the classical guitar and Western music, Goh studied and collaborated with Grammy Award-winning jazz artist Charlie Haden during graduate school, and has been exploring in depth with various altered tunings and extended techniques for the guitar since 2005. Furthermore, being deeply impacted by the tradition of Flamenco for over ten years, his repertoire has come to include a Bulerias (the most aggressive and the fastest form in the meter of 12/8) by guitar genius Paco De Lucia.
Goh is quickly and increasingly becoming noticed as a dynamic and extreme solo guitar instrumentalist; one of his strengths is to make it seem as if there was a full band with a drum set playing behind him when there really is no more than himself and his guitar on stage or in the recording room. His album HITORI, a collection of diverse original solo guitar works, has been brought to global attention by noted music journals such as ACOUSTIC MAGAZINE (UK). In 2009, out of the 42,000 CDs and the 560,000 songs submitted from 163 countries, the title track, Hitori, was nominated and placed among the top six in the category of solo guitar song at Just Plain Folks Music Awards in Nashville, Tennessee; the largest music award ceremony of any kind in music history.
As a touring musician, Goh has made countless appearances by performing concerts and teaching workshops at international festivals, universities, music institutions, clubs, concert halls among other venues in the United States, Canada, France, South Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, and Japan. Other credits include performances and projects with guitar giant Miroslav Tadic (The Grande Mothers Reinvented, David Torn, and Dusan Bogdanovic), legendary Japanese rock vocalist Masaki Yamada (Loudness, Firesign, and EZO), Kelli Ali (Linkin'Park, Bootsy Collins, and Marilyn Manson) of One Little Indian Records, acoustic fingerstyle extraordinaire Thomas Leeb, and master percussionist John Bergamo (Frank Zappa's Abnuceals Emukka Orchestra, John McLaughlin's Shakti, and Hands On'Semble) to name just a few. Currently Goh resides in Los Angeles, California.
For a closer look at Goh Kurosawa, please click "here" for an interview with Malibu Arts Journal; for audio samples, please click on the following to access the music player:
:::Japanese:::
