“When I first started playing these pieces, something in them spoke quietly to my soul.” This recording is a rare opportunity to experience some of the best contemporary Japanese solo works for piano performed by a musician with a special sensitivity for her fellow countryman’s art. Michio Mamiya’s Three Preludes recall a life in the country, expressing folkloric rhythms and energies through the keyboard. Masao Homma’s Cross-Mode explores crossing points between East and West as well as those between modern and traditional, while the core of Toru Takemitsu’s music is Ma, or the concept of ‘in-between-ness’, inviting the listener to engage their own musical imagination.