Madi Sato has collaborated with the following international world music artists in performances and recordings. She continues to work with these and other musicians in Santa Fe and at festivals around the country:

Paul Winter, saxophonist, bandleader, composer, explorer of the world's musical traditions, and founder of Living Music and the Paul Winter Consort. He has been motivated for the past thirty years by the vision of a musical-ecological community, and has followed a steady course towards his unique 'Earth Music', a vital celebration of the creatures and cultures of the whole earth.

Paul's musical realm has long embraced the traditions of many of the world's cultures, interweaving widely diverse instruments and elements with the extraordinary voices from what he refers to as "the greater symphony of the Earth", including wolves, whales, eagles, and several dozen other species of 'wilderness musicians'.

Bringing vitality through music and awakening people to the plight of endangered species through the beauty of their sounds, Paul Winter has performed over 2,000 concerts in major concert halls of the Americas, Europe and Asia, in major cathedrals such as Washington's National Cathedral, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and New York's St. John the Divine, and in such places as the White House, the Grand Canyon, the Negev Desert in Israel and the palace of the Crown Prince of Japan.

Read more about his extensive background which spans over 30 years of composing and performing: LivingMusicFoundation.com.

Koji Nakamura, master taiko drummer, was born in January 1960 at Hyogo, Japan. He was one of the original three performers who started the Shumei Taiko Ensemble and he was the group's first leader. Presently he is the Ensemble's Director. Among his other interests are reading and sports. He avows that his life in taiko has given him spiritual strength and the ability to face the profound depth of art in everyday life.

"Taiko directly reflects the player's mind in both sound and attitude. No matter what form art takes, there cannot be any eminent works of art without an elevated sense of spirituality on the part of the artist. It is obvious that there is no way to improve ones Taiko skills except through an accumulation of humble efforts and hard training. But before all that, it is most important for one to learn how to live ones life as a human being. For me, I learn about life by approaching taiko in the company of young players."

Thoughts on the Art of Taiko by Koji Nakamura

Yangjin Lamu is a spiritual musician from Tibet. Her name, Yangjin Lamu, literally means "Musical Goddess". Yangjin Lamu has been able to receive many special spiritual melodies during her meditations. All of her music has been created and produced during her travelling with various bands on the road. Her past few albums were composed spontaneously and recorded live in spiritual or sacred places in meditation caves in Tibet, sacred gardens in Thailand, and monasteries in Taiwan.

Because of her sense of urgency and love for preserving and promoting the Tibetan culture, Yangjin dropped out of university in her sophomore year and co-founded what is now the largest Tibetan pharmaceutical company in China. She also travelled around China to promote Tibetan culture and the fostering of understanding between Chinese and Tibetans. In order to acquire more financial support for Tibet, she has spoken at several United Nations functions and helped arrange the first U.N. function in Lhasa.

In 2000, Yangjin formed the first "Tibetan Sisters" singing group with her older and younger sisters. They gave numerous performances and appeared frequently on major TV shows in China. In 2002, despite her successes in her business and performing careers, she felt that she needed to further develop her spirituality in order to really help people. So she donated almost all of her assets to charities and began a meditation practice. One day in 2004, Yangjin suddenly was able to "hear" music and melodies from the deities and was able to compose music spontaneously. She has produced 5 albums in Taiwan since 2005.