Koji Nakano
Encyclopedia
Koji Nakano is a Japan
ese composer
. He was born in Japan and educated in Boston, The Hague, and San Diego. Mr. Nakano has been recognized as one of the major voices among Asian composers of his generation. His work strives to merge Western and Eastern musical traditions, and reflects the relationship between beauty, form and imperfection through the formality of music. Mr. Nakano received his Bachelor's Degree in composition with distinction, and Master's Degree in composition with academic honors and distinction, Pi Kappa Lambda
, from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he studied with Lee Hyla
and John Harbison
. Later, he studied with Dutch composer Louis Andriessen
in Amsterdam and at the Royal Conservatory of Hague as the Japanese Government Overseas Study Program Artist. Mr. Nakano received his Ph.D. in composition from the University of California at San Diego, where he studied with Chinary Ung
. In addition to being the recipient of The American Artists and Museum Professionals in Asia Fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council
, Mr. Nakano is also The first recipient of the Toru Takemitsu
Award in Composition from the Japan Society of Boston awarded annually to the most talented young composer in the Boston area. In 2008, he became the first composer to receive the S&R Washington Award Grand Prize from the S&R Foundation, which is awarded annually to the most talented young artist (in the fields of fine arts, music, drama, dance, photography and film), for his/her contributions to U.S.- Japanese relations. The past distinguished awardees include soprano Maki Mori (2000), pianist Yu Kosuge (2002), violinists Yosuke Kawasaki (2004), Sayaka Shoji (2006), and Tamaki Kawakubo (2007).
As a guide to his musical compositions, Dr. Stacey Fraser, Associate Professor of Music at the California State University
at San Bernardino, has recently written a paper entitled, Confluence of Musical Cultures in Time Song II, in which she examined the incorporation of a variety of Japanese vocal and instrumental techniques into western musical languages. There was also an essay version of the paper, which was published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing in the UK as part of a book centered on the proceedings of the Music of Japan Today Symposium. Mr. Nakano is a member of the American Composers Forum, ASCAP, and currently serves as a Fellow Council member of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Co-founder of The Asian Young Musicians' Connection, he commissions compositions from emerging Asian composers along side with worldwide professional musicians for its regular concert in Asia and North America. Since 2011, Mr. Nakano has been a Visiting Professor of Composition at Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan. Staring in 2012, he will be a full-time faculty member in composition at Burapha University in Thailand, where he has been Composer in Residence for the Annual Music and Performing Arts Festival.
Orchestral works
Operatic works
Vocal works accompanied with chamber orchestra
Work for chamber orchestra
Concertos
Works for solo instrument
Audio Visual Works/Music for Films
Collaborative works
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. He was born in Japan and educated in Boston, The Hague, and San Diego. Mr. Nakano has been recognized as one of the major voices among Asian composers of his generation. His work strives to merge Western and Eastern musical traditions, and reflects the relationship between beauty, form and imperfection through the formality of music. Mr. Nakano received his Bachelor's Degree in composition with distinction, and Master's Degree in composition with academic honors and distinction, Pi Kappa Lambda
Pi Kappa Lambda
Pi Kappa Lambda is an American honor society for undergraduate students, graduate students, and professors of music. There are currently 205 active chapters and approximately 64,500 individual members....
, from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he studied with Lee Hyla
Lee Hyla
Lee Hyla is an American classical music composer.Lee Hyla was born in Niagara Falls, New York, and grew up in Greencastle, Indiana...
and John Harbison
John Harbison
John Harris Harbison is an American composer, best known for his operas and large choral works.-Life:...
. Later, he studied with Dutch composer Louis Andriessen
Louis Andriessen
Louis Andriessen is a Dutch composer and pianist based in Amsterdam. He teaches composition at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague...
in Amsterdam and at the Royal Conservatory of Hague as the Japanese Government Overseas Study Program Artist. Mr. Nakano received his Ph.D. in composition from the University of California at San Diego, where he studied with Chinary Ung
Chinary Ung
Chinary Ung is a composer now living in the United States. After arriving in the United States in 1964 to study the clarinet, Ung studied composition with Chou Wen-chung and Mario Davidovsky. Ung is noted for combining traditional Cambodian musical elements with western instrumentation...
. In addition to being the recipient of The American Artists and Museum Professionals in Asia Fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council
Asian Cultural Council
The Asian Cultural Council is an American non-profit organization dedicated to providing support to Asian-American cultural exchange in the areas of visual and performing arts.- History :...
, Mr. Nakano is also The first recipient of the Toru Takemitsu
Toru Takemitsu
was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu possessed consummate skill in the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre...
Award in Composition from the Japan Society of Boston awarded annually to the most talented young composer in the Boston area. In 2008, he became the first composer to receive the S&R Washington Award Grand Prize from the S&R Foundation, which is awarded annually to the most talented young artist (in the fields of fine arts, music, drama, dance, photography and film), for his/her contributions to U.S.- Japanese relations. The past distinguished awardees include soprano Maki Mori (2000), pianist Yu Kosuge (2002), violinists Yosuke Kawasaki (2004), Sayaka Shoji (2006), and Tamaki Kawakubo (2007).
As a guide to his musical compositions, Dr. Stacey Fraser, Associate Professor of Music at the California State University
California State University
The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...
at San Bernardino, has recently written a paper entitled, Confluence of Musical Cultures in Time Song II, in which she examined the incorporation of a variety of Japanese vocal and instrumental techniques into western musical languages. There was also an essay version of the paper, which was published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing in the UK as part of a book centered on the proceedings of the Music of Japan Today Symposium. Mr. Nakano is a member of the American Composers Forum, ASCAP, and currently serves as a Fellow Council member of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Co-founder of The Asian Young Musicians' Connection, he commissions compositions from emerging Asian composers along side with worldwide professional musicians for its regular concert in Asia and North America. Since 2011, Mr. Nakano has been a Visiting Professor of Composition at Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan. Staring in 2012, he will be a full-time faculty member in composition at Burapha University in Thailand, where he has been Composer in Residence for the Annual Music and Performing Arts Festival.
List of Compositions
Chamber works- Ancient Chanting for Thai Classical musicians, 2011
- Eternal Chanting"From Somewhere...." for three Thai Classical Singers and percussions, 2010
- Looking at a Dancing Apsara through Rectangular Prisms -Piphat ensemble version-, 2010
- Time Song III: Reincarnation "The Birth of a Spirit" -String Quartet version-, 2010
- Time Song III: Reincarnation "The Birth of a Spirit" for daegeum, violin and violoncello, 2009
- Scattered Clouds/Dramatic Sky for flue, bass clarinet, viola and violoncello, 2009
- Looking at a Dancing Apsara through Rectangular Prisms for flute and Pin Peat ensemble, 2009
- Unspoken Voices-Unbroken Spirits for Thai Classical Singers and Piphat ensemble, 2009
- Time Signals for Brass Quintet II with Mahori ensemble, 2009
- Time Signals for Brass Quintet, 2007
- Time Song II: Howling through Time for female singer, flutist and percussionist, 2006
- Takekawa for piano and two percussion, 1999
- Brass Quintet, 1998
- Collage in Five Movements for saxophone, harp, percussion, violin and violoncello, 1998
- A Rock in the Way of A Floating Stream for flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, violoncello, percussion and piano, 1997
- Vision for violin, violoncello, piano, 1995-6
- A Love Song without Words for violin and piano, 1995
- Distance for flute and percussion, 1994
- Inside and Outside for violin, violoncello, marimba and piano, 1993
- Kyou (Resonance) for piano and percussion, 1992
Orchestral works
- Ceremonial: Time Song for orchestra, 2005
- Collage for orchestra, 1998-1999
Operatic works
- Arigatoo from the opera Spiritual Forest -arrangement for soprano and piano, 2011
- Brush, one act chamber opera, for soprano, baritone, clarinet, violin, violoncello, percussion and piano, 2004
- Arbutus Trees, an operatic scene, for mezzo soprano, baritone and piano, 2002
Vocal works accompanied with chamber orchestra
- Dear Soul for soprano, bass and chamber orchestra, 2000
- Zone for soprano and chamber orchestra, 1999
Work for chamber orchestra
- The Scene Imprinted in My Mind for chamber orchestra, 1995
Concertos
- Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, 1996-7
- Calling Me from Afar, piano concerto No. 1, 1994
Works for solo instrument
- After the Gentle Wind for solo flute, 2011
- Ancient Songs for solo soprano, 2007
- Wind for solo violin, 2003
- Wood: Marimba for solo marimba, 2003
- Frozen Crystal for solo piano, 2001-2
- l(a for solo soprano, 2000
- Silent Voices, dedicated to Toru Takemitsu, for solo clarinet in A, 1996
- Elastic for solo violoncello, 1994
- Reminiscences three pieces for solo piano, 1991-3
Audio Visual Works/Music for Films
- Scattered Clouds/Dramatic Sky, audio visual version, film by Tiffany Doesken,, 2010
- Unspoken Voices-Unbroken Spirits, audio visual version, film by Tiffany Doesken, 2009
- Looking at a Dancing Apsara through Rectangular Prisms, audio visual version, film by Tiffany Doesken, 2009
Collaborative works
- Seance, an aria, for musical Ghosts in Love, 2003
- Incidental music for the Winter's Tale and Coriolanus, for mixed chamber ensemble, 2000
- Waves, multimedia piece, for video, piano and three percussionists, 1998
- Where Do Our Sorrows Begin?...., for four instruments, 1998
External links
Koji Nakano Homepage http://composerkojinakano.googlepages.com/home- Massachusetts Cultural Councilhttp://www.massculturalcouncil.org/gallery/artistDetail.asp?App=20112059
- American Composers Forumhttps://www.composersforum.org/user/ko8454aolcom
- American Music Centerhttp://www.amc.net/KojiNakano
- Myspacehttp://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=172036574
- S&R Foundationhttp://www.sandr.org/index.html
- Asian World Center at the Creighton Universityhttp://www2.creighton.edu/ccas/asianworldcenter/livingsourcesonasia/kojinakanocomposer/index.php