Guitarist, Composer & Singer

Goh Kurosawa @ Chalfonte Theatre

The Platform at Chalfonte Theatre presents guitarist, composer, and singer Goh Kurosawa on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Doors open at 6:00 PM and music begins at 7:00 PM. The concert marks Kurosawa’s Northern Michigan debut and continues his ongoing Lovetap Tour, which has taken him from California to Japan, Mexico, and across the United States.

Known internationally as the “Musical Wakonyosai” — the Bicultural Music Samurai — Kurosawa has developed a singular approach to the guitar that defies easy categorization. His “Lovetap” technique fuses percussive fingerpicking, flamenco, and electric guitar effects into a live experience that draws from world music, jazz, folk, rock, and classical traditions simultaneously. Audiences and critics alike have struggled to contain him in a single genre.

“California’s Goh Kurosawa is a multi-genre wizard who had the crowd mesmerized before his first song had ended.”

— Michigan Local Spins Magazine

Scott Yanow, writing for the LA Jazz Scene, describes Kurosawa as a guitarist who “imProvises melodically, is open to the influences of pop, rock, flamenco, classical, Latin and Japanese music, and has his own musical identity.” A typical Kurosawa set might move from a Bob Marley song to a Japanese folk melody to Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” all woven together by his original compositions and his command of both acoustic and electric instruments.

Kurosawa has performed at festivals and venues across three continents, including the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival in Mexico, the Biwako Jazz Festival in Japan, the Los Angeles Lotus Festival, and the Taiwan Spring Scream Rock Festival. He has received six nominations from the Just Plain Folks Music Awards, appeared on the cover of Pasadena Weekly, and earned recognition from the city of Los Angeles for his contributions to the arts. His collaborators include Grammy-winning jazz bassist Charlie Haden, Adam Levy of Norah Jones’ band, and members of the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet.

Advance tickets for the concert are $20, with a $5 discount for students and seniors and $10 for children under 12. Tickets may be purchased online or at the box office. Tickets will be $5 more at the door on the evening of the performance.

“His music takes you to that place where most people have not visited since childhood.”

Goh Kurosawa will be selling CDs and merchandise at the show. The venue provides full professional sound reinforcement.

The performance is presented as part of The Platform, a live performance series curated by the nonprofit Chalfonte Foundation, which brings nationally and internationally recognized artists to Elk Rapids in an intimate setting.