Japan 2011
Selection Committee:
Carlo Forlivesi
Tatsuhiko Nishioka
Vittorio Vella
L’idea che ci ha spinto a indire un bando di partecipazione indirizzato esclusivamente ai compositori del Sol Levante è partita dalla necessità profonda di essere in qualche modo vicini al popolo giapponese in un momento difficile come questo, a pochi mesi dalla tragedia che lo ha duramente colpito.
Abbiamo pensato di offrire uno spazio creativo, lanciando un segnale di vicinanza, di presenza e solidarietà.
La risposta da parte dei compositori è stata a dir poco straordinaria, con 119 lavori pervenuti.
Questo appuntamento di Contemporanea è il risultato di quell’idea, sviluppata assieme al M° Carlo Forlivesi, affezionato frequentatore e profondo conoscitore della cultura giapponese e al M° Tatsuhiko Nishioka, docente della Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.
Aya Nishina
S.S.S.
Ai Watanabe
L’ombre se transforme en couteau qui transperce tes rêve
per pianoforte e supporto audio
Ryo Ikeshiro
Construction in Self
Junya Oikawa
Voice Spell
Mikako Mizuno
Ohshiki-dea
Ken Namba
Past - It II
Ryo Takahashi
White Grass
Ryo Ikeshiro is an electronic and acoustic musician working in the fields of audiovisual composition, improvisation, interactive installations and soundtracks. He gained a 1st Class in BMus (Hons) from Kings College London, and later a MPhil in composition at Cambridge. He is currently studying for a PhD in studio composition at Goldsmiths College. Research interests include the use of chaotic systems in generative, emergent structures and nonstandard synthesis, punk aesthetics in electronic music and new forms of interaction and presentation of works.
Recent projects include: presentation of an installation at SOUNDplay 2011 organised by New Adventures in Sound Art, Toronto; presentation of the paper “GENDYN and Merzbow” at Xenakis International Symposium 2011, London; performance of the generative work Construction in Self and presentation of the accompanying paper "Generative, Emergent, Self-Similar Structures: Construction in Self" at ICMC10, New York; PulseCubes, an interactive sound installation at re:new 2010, Copenhagen; and David Tudor?s Rainforest IV, London. He is a member of ry-om, whose tracks have been featured on Resonance FM; their recent studio project was for Creative Sources Recordings. His orchestral works have been performed by the Britten Sinfonia. As an events organiser, he has started a series entitled ABA. He is also a visiting tutor and runs workshops challenging preconceptions about music.
www.ryoikeshiro.com
Mikako Mizuno - Born in Japan. Composer and musicologist. Graduated from Tokyo University(aesthetics)?and Aichi Prefectural College of Arts and Music. Master degree for composition. Dr. of Engineering about the theme <Space Concept in the Contemporary Music>. The pieces were premiered in France(Bourges, ISEA in Paris), Austria(Mozarteum), Hungary(Hungarian Radio) , Germany(GEDOK), Italy( The International Music Festival in Venice, Alba Music Festival) Republic of Moldva, ISCM2010Sydney, EMS2010 Changhai, Musicacoustica in Beijing and in several cities in Japan.
Japan premiers include the concerts of:GEN-ON, contemporary music festival, JFC, Japanese Composers Festival, JSEM, Regular Concerts for Japanese Society for Electronic Music. Orchestral works were premiered by Tokyo Philharmonic orchestra and Central Aichi Symphonic Orcestra.
Prize: Kanagawa Art Festival, Japanese Symphonic Association, Japan-France Contemporary Music, Moldova Music festival Ars Poetica, Art Prize of Aichi Prefecture.
Writings were published including The History of Japanese Contemporary Music After WW?(2006), Space Concept in the Contemporary Compositions(2001), and so on.
Professor of Nagoya City University, General Director of JSEM/MSJ Symposium and Concert of Electroacoustic Music2009,Committee member of Japanese Society of Electronic Music(JSEM).
Ken Namba, born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 1983. Studied composition, analysis, japanese traditional music, conducting, piano, harpsichord and saxophone. He graduated from Toho College of Music, and took a master's degree in 2008. In 1998, he was selected by "experts in Shizuoka" (at Concert hall Shizuoka AOI). His works have been performed by many players not only in Japan, but also in Vienna and Kosovo. He received various prizes at national and international competitions including Japan national composition competiton iic tokyo 2008 (first prize, organized by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura Tokyo / 2008), Toru Takemitsu composition award (2nd prize, organized by the Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation / 2010).
Aya Nishina - A native of Sendai, Japan, Aya Nishina is a composer of acoustic and electro-acoustic music based in New York City. Her love for children is the greatest inspiration in her creative process.
After internationally acclaimed pianist Steven Osborne gave one of her works a world premiere at her age of fifteen, Aya’s compositions have been performed worldwide. Her works have been commissioned and programmed by prestigious organizations and venues including California Academy of Sciences, Concertpeace (Endorsed by UNICEF Canada and Canadian Opera Company), Electronic Music Foundation, UVphactory, Spoleto Festival USA, TZADIK Records, VocalEssence to name a few.
Her works have received awards and recognitions from the International Alliance for Women in Music, Essentially Choral Competition (American Composers Forum - VocalEssence) and Neil Rabaut Memorial Composition Award.
Since 2004, she has been an associate composer of “Muse-no-Yume”, non-profit organization that provides musical education and support to children with special needs based in Sendai, Japan.
Aya’s teachers and mentors have included; John Zorn, Julia Wolfe, Akira Nishimura, Giampaolo Bracali, Nils Vigeland, John Boyle, Elaine Broad, Joel Chadabe and Shu Yashima.
She is currently a composer-in-residence of Electronic Music Foundation (New York, NY) and is working on her debut album featuring various female vocal artists of our time for TZADIK Records. Together with her vocal ensemble, Aya will be performing at concert series programmed by Ryuichi Sakamoto for The Stone in April 2012.
Junya Oikawa born in Sendai, Japan. He began playing the electronic-guitar in a rock-band (From 1998~2002). After completing B.A. in the Music and Sound Design Course in Senzoku Gakuen College of Music (2007), and M.A in the Department of Inter Media Art in Tokyo University of the Arts (2011). Recently he has participated in “Tokyo Art Meeting Transformation” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) curated by Yuko Hasegawa as one of the 21 remarkable artists such as Matthew Barney. In this exhibition, he has presented new work of sound installation using only sound, and has highly appreciated. Successes include in the Mention by Rossana Maggia, International Noise Music Contest 2011 "Luigi Russolo – Rossana Maggia" in France and Special Prize, SFC Digital Art Awards 2007 in Japan, 2nd Prize, 4th International Acousmatic Composition Competition "Metamorphoses2006" in Belgium, Finalist 6st International Computer Music Competition "Pierre Schaeffer" 2008 in Italy.
His works has been selected in the Nuit Blueu 2010 in France, Music under the influence of computers in USA, Musica Viva Festival 2009 - Sound Walk 2009 in Portugal, 39th International Festival of Musics and Electronic Creations -Synthesis 2009- in France, International Computer Music Conference 2008 in Irland, 21th Days of New Music in Weimar"Karlheinz Stockhause's 80th birthday" in Germany, Contemporary music festival "Contemporanea - FrammentAzioni" 2008 in Italy.As a future plan, Oikawa is going to stay in Germany from October in 2011 for half a year to participate the Artist-in-Residence activity at the ZKM.
Ryo Takahashi was born in 1991 in Shizuoka, Japan and started piano study at the age of 6. He also plays the electric guitar, bass and DJ. Since 2010, he has studied at the Media Science Department, Tokyo University of Technology, in electro-acoustic and interactive computer music with Tomoko Nakai.
Ai Watanabe was born in Japan. She began studying acoustic music composition at the age of 12. Ai graduated Tokyo College of Music in a master's program and her Orchestra piece was chosen on graduation- concert. She has studied a creation of electro-acoustic music and acousmatic music at Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris, and now she is a doctor course student at Tokyo University of the Arts.
Ai profited many prices ; the President's Award of the Tokyo Collage of Music in 2003, JILA competition (Japan International League of Artists) on the final selected in 2005 and 2006, CCMC(the Contemporary Computer Music Competition in Japan) in 2006, the Price Pierre Schaeffer by Phonurgia Nova on the final selected in 2010.
She was enrolled in the training courses of Futura (Crest, 2005 and 2006), Motus (Paris, 2004), Centre Acanthes (Metz, 2006 and 2010) and Ircam (Paris, 2009). And She belongs to the avant-garde group AKIFUKUIN as " Muddler" (sound- mixing)