Two University of Rhode Island Graduate Students led a music and culture-focused lecture on Nov. 29 and have been selected by URI to perform in Puerto Rico next year.
The duo met to present and perform at URI’s Multicultural Student Services Center. During “Hashi,” graduate students Adrian Montero Moya and Moe Takamatsu combined lecture and music, alternating between lecturing about musical culture and performing cultural songs.
Takamatsu is a Japanese URI Graduate student, instructor and pianist who graduated from Tokyo College of Music in 2022. Takamatsu has lived in both Japan and the U.S., and has performed in multiple venues across both countries. Takamatsu is a part of URI’s Chamber Ensemble and has performed with URI’s Symphony Orchestra as well. Takamatsu also recorded a piece for the Paganini lecture in April.
Montero is a Costa Rican guitarist who started playing music back in 2002. He graduated from the National University of Costa Rica in 2018 and has been the recipient of multiple musical awards including but not limited to: first place at this year’s “Southwest Guitar Symposium,” second place at this year’s “Boston Guitar Fest” and winner of the “Jóvenes Solistas” festival organized by National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica in 2013. In his career so far, Montero has released two albums, “Azulado” in 2021 and “Sonatas & Partita” in 2022.
The word “Hashi,” which means bridge in Japanese, is a name the duo decided on due to their initiative of connecting cultures through music.
“We were looking for something that would connect us,” Montero said. “We [wanted] ‘Hashi’ to create something special, for us and for the audience, as a way to explore our identities, bridging Japanese culture with Latin American culture as well.”
The event began at noon, with an introduction from Eve Sterne, the director of the Center for the Humanities. “Hashi” combines traditional and contemporary composure from Japan and Latin America, according to Sterne.
“[Adrien and Moe’s] goal is to share their unique cultures through music as a way of bringing together people from different backgrounds,” Sterne said.
Montero and Takamatsu highlighted the works of multiple musicians from both Latin America and Japan. Japanese songwriter and performer, Yuquijiro Yocoh’s “Sakura Variations” was featured alongside “El duelo de la patria” by Manuel Matarria, a Costa Rican piece .
Shortly after the performance, it was revealed that Montero Moya and Takamatsu had been selected by the URI Center for Humanities for a grant to play in Puerto Rico. The Hashi Duo announced the news on Instagram Thursday, Nov. 30.
“I’m extremely happy that today after our debut as Hashi Duo we got the great news that Hashi has been selected by @urihumanities for a grant to travel to Puerto Rico next year!” Montero said in a joint Instagram post with Takamatsu.
The musicians saw ‘Hashi’ as a way to connect their cultures despite those countries being on opposite sides of the world – over 8,000 miles, to be specific.
Montero elaborated on the uniqueness of the lecture, and his experience learning about other cultural backgrounds in preparation for “Hashi”.
“Latin American culture is about extra, everything extra you know, big parties, big food everything is big and extra,” Montero said. “And Japanese culture is actually the opposite: it’s putting everything together in the most simple way.”
“For me that was really intriguing, I think that’s what’s really interesting about this project” Montero added.
The duo’s performance brought the audience into the experience as well, allowing them to experience music in a different way, one which was an informative and entertaining connective community experience.
When asked what his f avorite part of performing for an audience is, Montero responded that, “For me, and I think I speak for Moe too, sharing is the greatest gift of music. It doesn’t matter if it’s Carnegie hall, or just the living room of a friend, in every performance we try to put everything we’ve got to bring life to the room.”
The Hashi Duo’s first single, “Recordando un bolero” by Costa Rican composer Alonso Torres Matarrita is now out on streaming platforms including both Apple Music and Spotify.