Keiko Kikuchi – Harp

In Japan, Keiko Kikuchi is well known as a scholar and performer of the Celtic harp, with concerts and lectures all over Japan about the Celtic harp, the harp used by itinerant troubadours and the grand harp. She has given concerts for St. Patrick's Day at the Irish Embassy every year since 1997, as well as for the British Embassy, the Welsh Development Agency, and the Ireland Fund (every year from 1998 to 2001 and 2006). In 2005, she was invited to a special concert for the visit to Japan of Irish President Mary McAleese.
Ms. Kikuchi released a CD “The World of the Celtic Harp" in 2006, and also wrote the "harp" entry for the first ever Japanese Dictionary of Scottish Culture , which was published in 2006. Other recent notable performances are as follow; lecture and movie “the History and Culture of Irish Harp/3 types of Irish Harp” at National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo (MOMAT) in 2013; harp sextet “Rainbow Irish Harp Ensemble” at St. Patrick’s Day “I Love Ireland” in 2014; performance with storyteller in 2015.
In 1999 Ms. Kikuchi was a judge in the non-pedal section of the Nippon Harp Competition. In addition, she is chairperson of the non-pedal/historical research panel of the Nippon Harp Association.