Press Release Summary = Seattle recording artist Elizabeth Falconer's latest storytelling recording, "Little Pink Fish," has just received a Children's Music Web award - the second national award for the recording, which was honored with an iParenting Media Award earlier this year.
Press Release Body = "The Children's Music Web award is special because it is the only award that is judged by kids," she says. "Little Pink Fish is thrilled!" Falconer came to storytelling as a composer and master of the Japanese koto, a 13-string classical instrument. In 2000 she founded her own label, and her unique recordings of Japanese folktales have brought her much attention and numerous national awards including the highest recognition from Parents' Choice, NAPPA, iParenting Media, and Storytelling World. And now Children's Music Web. Parents' Choice calls her "a storyteller with a feather-light touch."
Her unique style of telling Japanese folktales combines storytelling with koto music. "Many people think when they listen to my recordings that the music and story are performed separately - but I do them both at the same time!" she explains. She combines the folk art of storytelling with the classical tradition of koto playing together with her own style of puppetry, creating each tale in conjunction with her music and large, six-foot instrument. "Sometimes my koto is a river - sometimes a tree. The process of telling stories with my music has led me to see my instrument in entirely new ways," she comments. Falconer has performed her "Koto Tales" across the United States in schools, libraries, festivals, and museums (including the Smithsonian), as well as in Canada and Japan.
Falconer was inspired to combine stories with music after she and her husband John adopted two boys, ages 3 and 5, in 1997. "I was amazed at how children's imaginations are affected by stories. At that point my life came filled with kids instead of koto. And when I finally found time to practice, I found myself reflecting on the stories we had read as I played. It was also at that point I realized the deep value of seemingly simple folktales. At one point the two things just came together; it was very much a, 'Hey! You got peanut butter on my chocolate!' sort of experience," she laughs. "So I tried putting one story to music for a library presentation I was putting together, and it was a very rewarding experience. After years of lecture-demos on Japan, I felt like it was the first time I was actually reaching my audience in a meaningful way. The more I created these musical tales, the more interesting it became."
Falconer's label, Koto World, now offers five storytelling CDs, as well as recordings of lullabies and Japanese music. They have been received with much enthusiasm: This is the label\'s FIFTEENTH NATIONAL AWARD since it started in 2000.
2025
