20100126 Adam Rapa and Naoki Ishikawa (2)

Adam Rapa and Naoki Ishikawa

Naoki did his best to focus on the flute but found himself distracted by the percussion section. The percussionists' ability to combine playing with physical movement enthralled him. The following year Naoki gave up the flute and turned to percussion where his natural talent flourished.

The language of music
Although he couldn't speak or comprehend much English at the time, Naoki quickly realized he could communicate using a language that required no words: Music. Now years later, both Rapa and Ishikawa use their music to "speak" to people around the world.

Believing that music is a language that connects with people, the talented trumpeter and drummer also see music as a way to express themselves. Adam states. "Sometimes emotions are too difficult to express through spoken language... through music you can express yourself in a different way." One of those different ways came in 201 when Adam and Naoki both began to perform in the hit Broadway show Blast! This award-winning musical uses music performance and pageantry to tell a story. Blast was the first of many musical collaborations to some for the two musicians.