As a group they arrange music from a wide variety of genres from early music to Baroque, and classical contemporary to movie and popular music. Each of the players contributes special skills to the success of the group: Kyoto-based Yutaka Okawachi brings a virtuoso technique; Tokyo-based Hiroyoshi Koyano brings his talents as an arranger; Ibaraki-based Tomohisa Hirayama brings an eye and ear for precision; Tokyo-based Kazuya Fujimori brings an interest in jazz and a suitable groove to the group's performance of popular styles; and Takashi Matsuishi of Hakodate, Hokkaido brings a wealth of experience as an orchestral player, chamber musician and solo recording artist.

In 1999, the flute ensemble Spark won (with full marks) the Grand Prix in the ensemble division of the Flute Competition, Japan.

Takashi Matsuishi was born in Tokyo in 1964 and now lives in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan. He studied flute privately with Atsushi Ichinohe, who is principal flautist of Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra and former student of Wolfgang Schulz (principal flautist, Vienna Philharmonic). Matsuishi was also taught by Koichi Nakayama, the last student of the highly regarded Swiss teacher André Jaunet; and later by Paul Meisen and Andrea Griminelli on masterclass.

Matsuishi graduated from the School of Art and Science, the University of Tokyo, and continues to study fisheries science at the Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo. He secured a tenure position in 1993 at the Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University, the largest faculty of its kind in Japan, and since then has worked as a specialist of fish stock assessment and cetacean research.

Besides his academic career, Matsuishi continues to perform as a flautist at a professional level. In 1993 he was awarded a Meister degree from the Nippon Classical Music Players Association; in 1994, he was a finalist and won the special prize at one of the most famous flute competitions in Japan, the Japan Woodwinds Competition; in 1996 and 2003 he was awarded the incentive prize from Hakodate Music Society and Hakodate Cultural Society respectively; and in 1999, he won the Grand Prix in the solo division of the Flute Competition, Japan.

He has played with the Hakodate Art Hall Symphonic Orchestra, as concerto soloist with the Hokusui Orchestra, and with many outstanding players including Agnes Giebel (Soprano), and the Janáček String Quartet. He also conducts the Hakodate Opera Orchestra and produces a concert series in Hakodate City Community Centre. He has released 5 albums with his flute ensemble 'Spark', and a CD with cembalo and viola da gamba.

JS Bach Laboratory

JS Bach Flute Sonatas and Partita

Selected Duets

Omogin

Preludes