Yoshihiro Kanno: ACL executive committee member

YOSHIHIRO KANNO, born in Tokyo in 1953, graduated from the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, M.M and B.M with the Master’s Degree in 1980.

In 1979, he won the Prince Pierre of Monaco Musical Composition Award for his “String Quartet”. In 1994, his “Les Temps des Miroirs–L’Horizontale du Vent” for ryuteki, sho, and electronic music became the recommended work of International Music Council sponsored by UNESCO. In 2012, he won Awards for the Tradition Creatrice by Japan Arts Foundation for his compositions based on Japanese idioms and traditions.

His work for ballet “Mandala”, after being premiered in Tokyo in 1987, was performed at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1988 and toured New York and Washington, D.C. in 1991. Among his recent works, the work for Gagaku orchestra “Moon Phase” was performed in Tokyo, Germany and Spain, and the work for Japanese traditional ensemble “A Lunar Note” was performed in Tokyo and several cities in the United States. In 2005, “City of Wind” for violin, shakuhachi, sho, koto, keyboard, computer sounds, video and acoustic control, commissioned by RITE Project, was performed in New York.

“Earth Stream” for percussion and piano 4-hands, commissioned by Noriko Ogawa, was premiered by Evelyn Glennie, Noriko Ogawa and Philip Smith in Kawasaki in 2007. In 2008, “Deep–Sea Maze” for flute and percussion was commissioned by and performed at Klang Zeit Muenster, Germany. In 2009-2011, “A Particle of Light ; Water ; Rainbow” for piano was commissioned by Noriko Ogawa and MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall.

Kanno’s compositions are founded on three genres–the Western orchestral music, the Japanese traditional instruments, and the computer music. Employing the various elements freely and unboundedly, he has composed a number of pieces based on Japanese idioms and traditions.

    Yoshihiro Kanno

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