August 3, 2019 - June Kuramoto (Koto/Composer)

There's something about June Kuramoto. We knew the kids weren't going to compose for her. We knew she wasn't available for the upcoming concert. We knew koto music is not written with western notation, And yet when she signaled she was available to mentor for us in studio, our question was, "What date?"

Previously she had requested that our composers meet at her house, but this time, she was willing to come to Bedrock.

We loaded her koto in my car (which BTW she let me carry and never lets anyone do normally). And as we're loading up, she bumps up against my supremely dirty car. And it does not look good.

I don't know if it really mattered, except the press was coming that day. You might notice in photos that June is wearing black pants.

Chris Lee holds his guitar as June Kuramoto tunes her koto, and Luis tinkers on the keyboard. Producer Nic Cha Kim in a tan bouree and a short sleeve grey collar shirt surveys the location for filming.

I met Nic Cha Kim through Lodestone when I was doing "Closer Than Ever". Truthfully, I didn't get to know him that well, but he was always around helping the producers, and was extremely kind. He currently worked as a field producer for Spectrum News 1.

He randomly calls me and asked to do a story on Inception. He'd like to interview a composer and one of the mentors or staff.

Jayleen was an easy pick having attended every session. And so was Claire, the Mother (Assistant Creative Director) of Inception.

Here is A LINK to the Spectrum One piece by Nic!

June's career with the band Hiroshima is legendary. It's funny that whenever she's our mentor, parents and Board members stop in to tell her what a fan they are of hers.

Her career has allowed her to work with legends.

Actually, I'll stop here, and let you take a listen to some of her brilliant lecture.

Please click on the video below to hear June's lecture on the koto.

A handful of mentors, including June, refuse to accept payment for their time, or they send me the check back. I don't want to list them, but everyone knows how thankful I am.

I only want to mention June because she donates her salary back (every time). Hiroshima was playing at the Bowl in two weekends. So we used her salary to treat students, family, and Miyeko to the sell-out crowd.