Composer Koji Nakano's Home Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Composer Koji Nakano's Home Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
Biography
As a composer and an educator, Mr. Nakano's musical activities have included community service and outreach to help bridge Western and Eastern musical cultures together. His recent works show the merging of both musical traditions, and also makes reference to theatre, philosophy, rituals and spiritualities in a series of compositions entitled Time Song. The Time Song series reflects his current interest in, and ongoing research of Mr. Nakano's native musical culture and theatre including Gagaku music and the dance theatre, Bugaku, the Noh drama, as well as a variety of folk singing and instrumental techniques in Shakuhachi, Biwa, Shamisen and Taiko.
Mr. Nakano has composed more than thirty works including solo pieces, chamber works, symphonic movements, operas, as well as concerti for piano and violin. Nakano's works have been premiered at the Tanglewood, Aspen, Bowdoin, June in Buffalo, Round Top and Vancouver music festivals. In New York City, his compositions have been performed at Merkin, Weill, and Cami Halls; in Boston at Jordan Hall; in Tokyo at Triphony Hall; in Vancouver at Scotiabank Dance Centre; in Brussels at Maene Piano Salon and in the Netherlands at Arnold Schoenberg Hall.
His recent projects include an orchestral piece Ceremonial: Time Song commissioned by conductor Toshiaki Murakami and the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, with support from the Japanese Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania. The work was premiered as part of a special concert celebrating The Friendship of Japan and EU Nations at Vilnius Congress Hall, Lithuania in the spring of 2005. In 2004, Brush, Mr. Nakano's first chamber opera was written in collaboration with Canadian librettist Kico Gonzalez-Risso and commissioned by Tapestry New Opera Works. Premiered at the Fermenting Room at the Distillery Historic District in Toronto, the work was subsequently performed at the Algoma Fall Festival in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to sold-out concerts. In 2005, the Helikon Ensemble focused on Mr. Nakano's compositions exclusively and performed a revised version of Brush and his sextet A Rock in the Way of a Floating Stream at the Vancouver East Cultural Center in association with the Vancouver Opera's Views of Japan.
In 2007, Mr. Nakano's Time Song II: Howling Through Time for female singer, flutist and percussionist was premiered at the Asia Society in NYC in the concert Four Generations of Asian Composers, where he was honored to represent the youngest of four generations. This work was funded in part by the Composer Assistance Program of the American Music Center. Recently, Mr. Nakano wrote a paper titled, "Confluence of Musical Cultures in Time Song II," in collaboration with Dr. Stacey Fraser, Assistant Professor of Music at California State University, San Bernardino, in which they examined how to incorporate a variety of Japanese folk singing and instrumental techniques into western musical languages in his work. The paper was first presented as a lecture/recital as part of the Music of Japan Today 2007 Symposium at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and it will be featured again during the College Music Society National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah in November 2007. In addition, an essay version of the paper will be published by Cambridge Scholar Publishing in the UK as part of a book centered on the proceedings of the Music of Japan Today Symposium.
In addition to being the first recipient of the Toru Takemitsu Award in Composition from the Japan Society of Boston, Mr. Nakano has also received composition awards, fellowships and grants from the Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs, the Tanglewood Music Center (Margaret Lee Croft Fellowship), Meet the Composer (Global Connections Award), the Composers Conference at Wellesley College, the MacDowell Colony, the Corporation of Yaddo, the Millay Colony for the Arts (James and Stephania Mcclennen Fellow), the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, the Ragdale Foundation, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (CSG Fellowship), the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts (Kimmel Harding Nelson Award), the American Music Center(4), the American Composers Forum, ASCAP(7), the Atlantic Center for the Arts(Coca-Cola Foundation Fellowship), the Ernest Bloch Music Festival, the New School University, the New England Conservatory and the University of California at San Diego (Gluck Composition Fellowship).
Having been named Composer in Residence for the Harumatsuri (Spring Festival) at the United Nations International School Theater in the spring of 2008, Mr. Nakano currently composed two commissioned pieces, Ancient Songs for soprano Stacey Fraser for the opening ceremony and Time Signals for Brass Quintet for the closing ceremony.
Mr.Nakano's upcoming projects include a new piece for the Cambodian Pin Peat ensemble with one or two Western instruments and his second chamber opera (as yet untitled) for Toshiaki Murakami, conductor of the Hanover State Opera. This music theater piece will be based on the sensuality and ritualism found in his native culture such as Ikebana (flower arrangement), various metrical arts, and the Shinto and Buddhist ceremonies.
Mr. Nakano received both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees with the highest honors in composition 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. He received his Ph.D. in composition from the University of California at San Diego, where he studied with Chinary Ung. Mr. Nakano is a member of the American Music Center, the College Music Society and ASCAP.
Current Activities/Schedules/Concerts:
Composer in Residence (Kimmel Harding Nelson Award), Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, NE, February 11-March 14, 2008
Guest Artist, Community Outreach Program, Nebraska City Middle School, Nebraska City, NE, February 18, 2008
Guest Lecturer, lecture on own compositions in relation to various Asian philosophies, musical traditions and cultures, Asian Studies Symposium, California State University, San Bernardino, February 28, 2008
Guest Composer, composition seminar, Music Department, California State University, San Bernardino, February 28, 2008
Guest Composer, Lecture on own compositions in relation to various Asian philosophies, musical traditions and cultures, Asian World Cebrer and Fine& Performing Arts, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, March 13, 2008
Composer in Residence, Japanese Spring Festival, the United Nations International School Theater, NYC, March 25, 2008
Portait Concert, Innovation and Tradition: The Music of Koji Nakano, Tenri Cultural Institute, NYC, 7:00pm, March 25, 2008
Artist in Residence (CSG Fellowship), Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, April 1- May 13, 2008
Lecture/recital of Ceremonial: Time Song for orchestra and Time Song II: Howling Through Time for female singer, flutist and percussionist, SuperRegional Conference, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Chapters, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, April 3, 2008
Performance of Ancient Songs by soprano Stacey Fraser, Indian Wells Theater, Palm Desert Campus, California State University, San Bernardino, April 13, 2008
Guest Lecturer, the Music Meet, Sweet Briar College Music Society, Sweet Briar College, Amherst, VA, April 16, 2008
Performance of Ancient Songs by Stacey Fraser, CSUSB's Music Tuesdays Series, CSUSB Performing Arts Recital Hallon, California State University, San Bernardino, April 22, 2008
Performance of Ancient Songs by Stacey Fraser, the Annual Arthurt Moorefield Memorial Recital, CSUSB Performing Arts Recital Hall, California State University, San Bernardino, May 7, 2008
Composer Fellow, National Performing Arts Convention, Denver, CO, June 10-14, 2008
Artist in Residence, Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL, June 19- July 2, 2008
New Music Concert featuring works by Chinary Ung, Sean Heim, Chih Chen Wei and Koji Nakano, Conservatory of Music, Chapman University, Orange, CA, July 10, 2008
Resident Composer, lecture on own music and a performace of Ancient Songs by soprano Stacey Fraser, Thailand Composition Festival, Burapha University, Bangsan, Thailand, July 16-18, 2008
Artist in Residence, Millay Colony for Arts, NY, August 4-29, 2008
Artist in Residence, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, CA, September 16-October 16, 2008
Visiting Researcher and Faculty, Royal University of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Date(TBA), 2008
Visiting Composer, Music Department, California State University, San Bernardino, Date(TBA), 2009
Visiting Scholar, Asian World Cebrer, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, Date(TBA), 2009
Past Activities/Schedules/Concerts:
Artist in Residence, MacDowell Colony, NH, February 15-April 12, 2007
Visiting Artist, Well School, Outreach Program, MacDowell Colony, NH, March, 2007
Lecture/recital by soprano Stacey Fraser, Time Song II: Howling Through Time for female singer, flutist and percussionist, Music of Japan Today, University of Maryland, Baltimore, March 31, 2007
Performance of "Frozen Crystal" by pianist Noriko Suzuki, United Methodist Church of Kinnelon, 129 Boonton Ave, Kinnelon, New Jersey, 3pm, April 22, 2007
Visiting Artist, the LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, NYC, May 8, 9& 11, 2007
Panel Discussion, Four Generations of Asian Composers, Asia Society, 6: 30pm, May 10, 2007
Premiere, Time Song II: Howling Through Time, Asian Society, 8pm, May 10, 2007
James and Stephania Mcclennen Fellow, Millay Colony for Arts, NY, September 3-27, 2007
Guest Artist, Spencertown Academy, Spencertown, NY, September 23, 2007
Artist in Residence, Yaddo, NY, November 6-December 8, 2007
Lecture/recital by soprano Stacey Fraser, Time Song II: Howling Through Time for female singer, flutist and percussionist, National Conference, College Music Society, Salt Lake, Utah, November 16, 2007
Current Projects/Commissions:
Second Chamber Opera for Toshiaki Murakami, conductor of Hanover State Opera
A New Work for Pin Peat Ensemble with one or two Western instruments
Premiere: Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Time Song III: Incantation for mixed Ensemble, 2008 (TBA)
Time Signals for Brass Quintet
Premiere: United Nations International School Theater and Tenri Cultural Institute, NYC, March 25, 2008
Ancient Voices for soprano Stacey Fraser
Premiere: United Nations International School Theater and Tenri Cultural Institute, NYC, USA, March 25, 2008
"Between Paths...," for two piano
dedicated to Noriko Suzuki
Past Commissions
Ceremonial: Song of Time for Orchestra (2005)
Premiered: Vilnius Congress Concert Hall, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, 2005
Commissioned for a special concert The Friendship of Japan and EU Nations by conductor Toshiaki Murakami and Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra with support from the Japanese Embassy and Toyota Corporation in Vilnius, Lithuania
Brush one act chamber opera (2004)
Premiered: Fermenting Room, Distillery Historic District, 2004
Algoma Fall Festival, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, 2004
Heilkon Ensemble, Vancouver East Cultural Center, Vancouver, Canada, 2004
Commissioned by Tapestry New Opera Works with support from New OP Angels: City Development Corporation, Toronto, Canada
|
|
|
|
Resume
Education
University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA
Ph.D. in composition, 2006
Composition studies with Chinary Ung
Royal Conservatory of Hague, Hague, Holland
Advanced composition diploma program, 2002-3
Composition studies with Louis Andriessen
New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, MA
Master of Music in composition, with academic honors and distinction, Pi Kappa Lambda, 1999
Composition studies with Lee Hyla and John Harbison
New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, MA
Bachelor of Music in composition, with distinction, 1997
Composition studies with Lee Hyla, Malcolm Peyton and Robert Ceely
Master Classes: Henri Dutilleux, Franco Donatoni, Kaija Saariaho, George Benjamin
Seminars:
Toru Takemitsu, Luciano Berio, Elliot Carter, Chou wen-chung, James Tenney, Roger Reynolds, Brian Ferneyhough, Joji Yuasa
Music Festivals/Seminars
Composer-Librettist Laboratory, Tapestry New Opera Works, Toronto, Canada, 2002
Tanglewood Music Festival, Lenox, MA, 2000
Composers Conference, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 1999
Young Composers Symposium, International Festival-Institute, Round Top, TX, 1998
June in Buffalo, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 1998
Music Ninety-Eight, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 1998
Composers Symposium, Ernest Bloch Music Festival, Newport, OR, 1998
Aspen Music festival and School, Advanced Master Class in Composition, Aspen, CO, 1996
Bowdoin International Summer Music Festival, Brunswick, ME, 1996, 1997
Composition Seminar, New York University, NYC, 1994
Teaching Experience
University of California at San Diego, Music Department, Teaching Assistant, 1999-06
Courses taught:
Fundamentals of Music, for undergraduate non-majors
Basic Musicianship, for undergraduate music majors and non-majors
Music Theory and Practice I, for undergraduate, music majors
Symphony, undergraduate, non-majors
Introduction to Western Music, for undergraduate, non-majors
Music and Film, undergraduate, non-majors
Additional Teaching Experience
Guest Lecturer, Asian World Center, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, 2008
Guest Lecturer, Asian Studies Symposium, California State University, San Bernardino, CA, 2008
Guest Lecturer, Richland College, Dallas Country Community College District, Dallas, 2007
Guest Artist, LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, NYC, 2007
Visiting Artist, Well School, Outreach Program, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH, 2007
Visiting Artist, Opera Creation Program, Dragon Academy of School, Toronto, Canada, 2003-2004
Guest lecturer,Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Ishikawa, Japan, 2002
Teaching assistant, New England Conservatory, Undergraduate Theory Department, Boston, MA, 1996-7
Related Working Experiences
Personal Assistant and Music Editor of Composer Chinary Ung, 2006- to the present
Assistant Coordinator, special concert Four Generations of Asian Composers,
Asia Society, NYC, May 10th, 2007
Doctoral Papers
The Confluence of Musical Cultures and The Cultural Confluence in Toru Takemitsu's November Steps for Shakuhachi, Biwa and Orchestra
Discussion of Definition of Metaphor and The Use of Metaphor in Chinary Ung's Compositions
The Concept of Time and the Multi-Dimensions, Meaning and Layers in the Use of Time in Louis Andriessen's De Staat, De Tiji and Tao from Trilogy of the Last Day
Dissertation
Composition, Time Song II Howling through Time for soprano, flute and percussion
Select Performance Venues of Original Works
Jordan Hall, Boston
Vilnus Congress Hall, Vilnius, Lithuania
Wellesley Composers Conference, MA
Maene Piano Salon, Brussels, Belgium
All Souls Church,MA
Arnold Schoenberg Hall, Hague, Holland
Merkin Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, NYC
Tenri Cultural Institute, NYC
Toriphony Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Weill Recital Hall, NYC
Tenri Cultural Institute, NYC
United Nations International Theater, NYC
Hikifune Cultural Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Cami Hall, NYC
Kunitachi School of Music, Tokyo, Japan
Asian Society, NYC
Yamaha Hall,NYC
Vancouver East Cultural Center, Canada
Vancouver Music Festival,Canada
Tanglewood Music Center, MA
Jericho Performing Arts Centre, Vancouver, Canada
Aspen Music Festival, CO
Scotiabank Dance Centre, Vancouver, Canada
June in Buffalo, NY
Nightwood New Work Studio, Toronto, Canada
Bowdoin International Music Festival, ME
Fermenting Room, Distillery Historic District, Toronto, Canada
Ernest Bloch Music Festival, OR
Algoma Fall Festival, Sault Ste. Marie, Canada
Music 98' New Music Festival,OH
International Festival-Institute at Round Top, TX
New York University
Manhattan School of Music
New England Conservatory
New School University
University of New York at Buffalo
University of Cincinnati
Creighton University
California State University, San Bernardino
University of California at San Diego
University of Maryland, Baltimore Country
Grants/Fellowships
Global Connections Grant, Meet the Composer, NYC, 2008
CSG Fellowship, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Amherst, VA, 2008
Residency Fellowship, Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL, 2008
Residency Fellowship, Djerassi Resident Artist Program, Woodside, CA, 2008
Kimmel Harding Nelson Award, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, NE, 2008
James and Stephania McClennen Fellow, Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY, 2007, 2008
Residency Fellowship, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH, 2007
Residency Fellowship, Corporation of Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, New York, 2007
Travel Grant, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, MacDowell Colony, 2007
Travel Grant, the Corporation of Yaddo, Saratoga Spring, NY, 2007
Composer Assistance Program Grant, American Music Center, NYC, 2005, 2006
Recording Grant, Music Department, University of California at San Diego, CA, 2006
Dissertation Grant, University of California at San Diego, CA, 2005, 2006
Travel Grant, Music Department, UCSD, La Jolla, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006
Young Artist Fellowship, Agency of Cultural Affair, Japanese Government, Tokyo, Japan, 2002-3
Fellowship, Composer-Librettist Laboratory, Tapestry New Opera Works, Toronto, Canada, 2002
Margaret Lee Croft Fellowship, Tanglewood Music Center, Lenox, MA, 2000
Gluck Composition Fellowship, Music Department,University of California at San Diego, CA, 2000
Fellowship, Composers Conference, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 1999
Coca-Cola Foundation Fellowship, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL, 1998
Fellowship, Ernest Block Music Festival, OR, 1998
Composition Awards and Competitions
ASCAPlus Award, ASCAP, NYC, 2000 to the present
Winner, Commencement Composition Competition, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA, 1999, 1997
Recipient, the first annual Toru Takemitsu Award in Composition, the Japan Society of Boston, Boston, MA, 1998
Winner, Honors Brass Quintet Composition Competition, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA, 1998
Recipient, New School University Composition Competition, Composer's Forum, National Endowment for the Arts, NYC, 1996
Scholarships
Composer Scholarship, American Music Center and American Composers Forum, National Performing Arts Convention, Denver, CO, 2008
Full tuition and fee scholarships, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 2000-06
Merit Scholarship, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA, 1996-1999
Merit Scholarship, Music Ninety-Eight, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 1998
ACA Scholarship, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL, 1998
Merit Scholarship, Aspen Music Festival and School, Advanced Master Class in Composition, Aspen, CO 1997
Merit Scholarship, Bowdoin International Summer Music Festival, Brunswick, ME, 1996, 1997
Professional Affiliations
American Music Center, NYC, NY, 2004 to the present
ASCAP, NYC, NY, 2000 to the present
College Music Society, Missoula, MT, 2004 to the present
|
|
|
|
List of Original Compositions
Chamber Works
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
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
Ancient Songs for solo soprano, 2007
Wind for solo violin, 2003
Wood: Marimba for solo marimba, 2003
Frozen Crystal for solo piano, 2001-2
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
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
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
page created with 1-2-3 Publish
|
|
