Since 1990, sho player Ko Ishikawa has been performing in concert and appearing in music festivals in Japan and around the world. He is a member of the gagaku (Japanese court music) group Reigakusha, with which he has performed many classical gagaku and contemporary pieces. As a solo sho player, Ishikawa collaborates with a variety of musicians and composers and also performs improvisation. He has been lauded for his performances of gagaku songs, including pieces in the saibara style. As a member of Skogen, he performed with Magnus Granberg in "Sound of Stockholm" in 2012. In 2019 he appeared in IMPROV 2, a performance with Giorgos Varoutas and Nikos Sidirokastritis at the Onassis Cultural Centre Athens; and in Thin Edge New Music Collective "ONGAKU" Celebrating Japanese + Canadian Contemporary and Experimental Music (in Toronto). Ishikawa lectures at Wako University, Gakushuin University and Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts, and teaches an "Ancient Songs" course at Asahi Culture Center in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Ko Ishikawa on the Ftarri, Hitorri, Meenna, and Improvised Music from Japan labels