10

FRIDAY

Whether it’s the Pillows drifting through the cosmos with “Ride on Shooting Star” or Teengenerate stripping the paint off the walls with “My GTO,” Japanese musicians have a unique way of making existing musical forms distinctly their own. Just imagine what those folks could do with a bunch of newly discovered instruments from eighth-century Japan. Well, that’s sort of what Toshihiro Kido is doing, except he’s the former director of the National Theater of Japan and most likely doesn’t have a punk-rock bone in his body. During his lecture and demonstration of gagaku (the traditional music of the Japanese court) and reigaku (new compositions written for long-lost instruments found preserved in an ancient storehouse), he will probably be far better equipped than Guitar Wolf frontman Seiji to resist the siren call of smashing a priceless koto onto the stage. But if he doesn’t do it, then how will anyone ever know what that sounds like? Bring the pit when Professor Kido speaks at 7 p.m. at the Freer Gallery of Art’s Meyer Auditorium, 12th Street and Jefferson Drive SW. Free. (202) 633-4880. (Jason Powell)