Koji Nakano (composer)
Koji Nakano (b. August, 1974) is a Japanese 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 grand prize 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 alongside worldwide professional musicians for its regular concert in Asia and North America. Mr. Nakano was a Visiting Professor of Composition at Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan and is a full-time faculty member in composition at Burapha University in Thailand.
List of Compositions [edit]
- 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 [edit]
Koji Nakano Homepage [1]
