Takayuki Rai was born in Tokyo in 1954. He studied composition with Yoshiro Irino in Japan and Helmut Lachenmann in Germany, and computer music with Paul Berg at the Institute of Sonology in the Netherlands. He worked as a freelance composer and at the Institute of Sonology as a guest composer in The Netherlands in the 1980s. Since 1991 he is teaching computer music and composition at the Sonology Department, Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo, and taught at the Lancaster University in The United Kingdom between 2006 and 2013. He is also supervising the development of Max/MSP plug-in software 'DIPS' (Digital Image Processing with Sound) for the creation of interactive multimedia art since 2000. His works have been selected at numerous international competitions, including the Gaudeamus Competition of Composition, the ISCM World Music Days, and the International Computer Music Conference. He also won the Mixed Electronic Music award at 13th International Electroacoustic Music Competition Bourges in France, the Irino Composition Prize in Japan, and 1st prize at the NEWCOMP International Computer Music Competition in USA. In 1991 he received the ICMA (International Computer Music Association) Commission Award. Some of his scores are published by DONEMUS in The Netherlands and recordings of his works are included in various CDs released by such as Wergo, le Chant de Monde, CENTAUR, Digital Art Creation and Fontec.

http://www.t-rai.net/profile.html

Motoharu Kawashima (b. 1972, Tokyo, Japan) studied composition with Isao Matsushita and Jo Kondo at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He received his masters degree from the same university in 1999. Among the awards he has received are the Akiyoshidai International Composition Prize (1992), Darmstadter Stipendiumpreis and the Best Notation Prize (1994), Darmstadter Kranichsteiner Musikpreis (1996), Second Prize at the Japan Music Competition (1996), Akutagawa Composition Prize (1997), and Encouragement Award of the Japan Choreographers' Society (1997). His music has been accepted at the ISCM World Music Days (Copenhagen, 1996), and the Asian Composers' League Conference and Festival (Yokohama, 2000). During the Tokyo Summer Festivals of 1996 and 1999, his works were given an exclusive showcase. Kawashima has received accolades and engendered the praise of new music critics and enthusiasts with his unconventional style and use of visual performance aspects. His entry to the 2003 Melbourne Festival, Fight with Violin, contained instructions such as "rub violin on top of head, end performance with an empty stage and a recording of a classical piece." 2000 accepted for the 21th Conference and Festival of the ACL in Yokohama. Since 2003 lecturer of the Shobi University. 2005 & 2006 portrait concert by Ensemble Bois (Tokyo). Since 2007producer of comtemporary music series "eX." with Akiko Yamane. 2007solo recital (Tokyo). Since 2008 director of the Japan Federation of Composers Inc. In 2009 he won the 27th Nakajima Kenzo Music Prize. Actually, Kawashima works as Professor at the Composition Dpt. of the Kunitachi College of Music, Tokyo. In Oct 2014 the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra will perform a portrait concert dedicated to his works.

 

Kotoka Suzuki, born in Tokyo, Japan, is a composer focusing on both multimedia and instrumental practices. She has produced several large-scale multimedia works, including spatial interactive audio-visual work for both concert and installation settings, often in collaboration with artists and scholars from other disciplines. Her work conceives of sounds as physical moving objects that are visible, constantly transforming into different forms, sizes, and colors, as they travel through the air at different speeds. These objects can be based on real life such as water or an entirely imaginary object. Suzuki’s work is often produced in relationship to a specific site. The placement of sounds and performers within the site is also a crucial element in her work. The roles of the performer and audience are often expanded so that they become active compositional partners, where they are invited to directly influence the music and visual elements as well as the narrative/musical structure of the work. Her work has been featured internationally by performers such as Arditti String Quartet, Continuum, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM), Pacifica String Quartet and Earplay Ensemble, at numerous festivals such as Ultraschall, ISCM World Music Days, Inventionen, Klangwerktage, VideoEx, International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), and Music at the Anthology (MATA). Among the awards she has received include DAAD Artist in Resident Berlin (Germany), Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition Prize-Multimedia (France), Robert Fleming Prize from Canada Council for the Arts, George A and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation, and Musica Nova International Electroacoustic Music Competition Honor Prize (Czech). She received a B.M. degree in composition from Indiana University and a D.M.A. degree in composition at Stanford University.

http://www.kotokasuzuki.com/

Chikashi Miyama is a composer, video artist, interface designer, performer, and author. He received a MA (Sonology/2004) from Kunitachi College of Music, Tokyo, Japan, a Nachdiplom (Komposition im Elektronischen Studio/2007) from Music academy of Basel, Switzerland, and a Ph.D (Composition/2011) from University at Buffalo, New york, USA. In 2011, he received a reserach grant from DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) and worked as a visiting researcher at ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany. He has studied with Takayuki Rai, Georg Friedrich Haas, Jacob Ulmann, Erik Oña, and Cort Lippe. His compositions have received an ICMA award (2011/UK) from the International Computer Music Association, a second prize in SEAMUS commission competition (2010/St. Cloud, USA), a special prize in Destellos Competition (2009/Argentina), and a honorable mention in the Bourges Electroacoustic Music Competition (2002/France). His works and papers have been accepted by ICMC twelve times, by NIME four times, and selected by various international festivals in 18 countries, such as Mix, Re:New (Denmark), Musica Viva (Portugal), Espace sonore, dBâle, SHIFT (Switzerland), Next generation (Germany), Agora Resonance, Scrime (France), Lica-Mantis, BEAM (UK), June in Buffalo, NWEAMO, SPARK, NYCEMF, SEAMUS (USA), Sonoimágenes (Argentina), SuperCollider symposium, and Pdcon. Several works of him are included on the DVD of the Computer Music Journal Vol.28 by MIT press, and ICMC official CD/DVD(2005/2011). His instructional book of PureData was published by the Works Corporation Inc. in 2013. He is currently teaching at College of Music and Dance, Cologne, Germany and College of Arts, Bern, Switzerland.

http://www.chikashi.net/

 

Born in Hokkaido, Japan in 1981, Yoshiaki Onishi is active both as a composer and a conductor, who is currently a Teaching Fellow at Columbia University. His principal teachers at Columbia have been Fabien Lévy, Fred Lerdahl, and Tristan Murail. He received the Artist Diploma (2008) and the Master of Music degrees (2007) in music composition from Yale School of Music. Before Yale, he studied music composition, clarinet and conducting at University of the Pacific, Conservatory of Music (Stockton, California), where he graduated in 2004 with the highest honor. Written by a New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini in 2010 as: “[…] a composer who can draw such varied, eerily alluring sounds,” Onishi’s music has been performed worldwide by such ensembles as JACK Quartet (US), Next Mushroom Promotion (Japan), Nieuw Ensemble (The Netherlands). Onishi is a recipient of several honors. He was awarded the Gaudeamus Prize 2011, one of the most prestigious awards given to young composers. Other recent honors include an artistic residency fellowship from Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Umbertide, Italy, as well as a commission from Ensemble Intercontemporain as a result of Projet Tremplin. As a conductor, Onishi is in great demand. The ensembles and orchestras he has conducted are Talea Ensemble, Wet Ink Ensemble, Yale Philharmonia, Iktus Percussion, Mantra Percussion, Loadbang, and PMF Academy Ensemble, to name a few. He has collaborated with composers such as Zosha Di Castri, Curtis K. Hughes, Alec Hall, Bryan Jacobs, Wang Lu, Kate Soper and Matthew Ricketts. His interests in promoting contemporary music were featured in the Pacific Music Festival’s 20th year anniversary book.

http://yoshionishi.com/

http://neoterize.net/

 

Kanokpak Changwitchukarn was born on the 1st April 1994. He finished his grade 9 at Assumption Thonburi School. After that he began to study the Pre-College Program at College of Music, Mahidol University, after which he continued his undergraduate level at the same place majoring in composition. He started piano lessons with Mr. Sorapong Terdsuwan and Ms. Leela Sakjaroen while he was in grade 7. At high school he studied with Mr. Bakthiyor Allaberganov. In that time, he also took Theory and Composition lessons with Mr. Valeiry Rizaev. At the present, he is in undergraduate level majoring in composition having Mr. Valeiry Rizaev as his instructor. In 2014/2015 he studies with Prof. Motoharu Kawashima as an exchange student at Kunitachi, College of Music, JAPAN.

Shugo Tanaka is a Japanese composer. He was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1992, but he mainly grew up in Kagoshima as a child. He has studied composition with Makiko Arimura at Kagoshima Prefecture Shoyo High School, and he has studied composition with Toshiya Watanabe and Motoharu Kawashima at Kunitachi College of Music. He graduated from Composition Course of Music Department of Kagoshima Prefecture Shoyo High School, and he is a senior of Composition Department of Kunitachi College of Music. He often composes works with game elements and works which get audiences to easily understand differences in tone by not changing pitch.

http://shugotanaka.tuzikaze.com/index.html