50 Years of Transience

Born in Hiroshima in 1955, Toshio Hosokawa participated in the Darmstadt International Summer Course for New Music in 1980, where his works were first presented. Since then, he has developed his compositional career mainly in Europe and Japan. He has received numerous commissions from major orchestras, music festivals, and opera houses in Europe and the United States, earning high acclaim.
Among his notable works are the opera Hanjo (2004, Aix-en-Provence Festival), the orchestral piece Circulating Ocean (2005, Salzburg Festival), Woven Dreams (2010, commissioned as part of the Roche Commissions), the opera Matsukaze (2011, La Monnaie, Brussels), and the Horn Concerto: Moment of Blossoming (co-commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic, Barbican Centre, and Concertgebouw). These works were premiered under the direction of conductors such as Kazushi Ono, Jun Märkl, Kent Nagano, Sir Simon Rattle, and Franz Welser-Möst.
At the Salzburg Festival in 2013, many of his works were performed, including Klage for soprano and orchestra, a festival commission. In 2016, his opera Stilles Meer (Silent Sea), dealing with the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake, was premiered at the Hamburg State Opera. In 2017, the opera Futari Shizuka – The Maiden from the Sea, commissioned by Ensemble Intercontemporain, was premiered at the Cité de la Musique in Paris. In 2018, the opera Erdbeben. Träume (Earthquake. Dreams) was premiered at the Stuttgart State Opera.
Hosokawa was elected a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts in 2001, and later of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in 2012. He has served as composer-in-residence with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, WDR Choir, Netherlands Philharmonic, and the Mozart Festival in Würzburg. From 2006/07 and again in 2008/09, he was a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.
He has received numerous awards, including the Medal with Purple Ribbon (Japan), the Japan Foundation Award (2018), the Goethe Medal (2021), and the 17th Frontiers of Knowledge Award (Music and Opera category, 2025). He is currently Artistic Director of the Takefu International Music Festival and Composer-in-Residence with the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra (since 2020/21).
 

In 2015, Fumika Mohri won Second Prize at the 54th International Paganini Violin Competition, followed by Third Prize at the Montreal International Musical Competition in 2019. She has also received numerous honors, including the Yokohama Cultural Award for Arts and Culture, the Kyoto Aoyama Music Award (Newcomer Prize), and the Hotel Okura Music Award.
A graduate of the Faculty of Letters at Keio University, she went on to study in the Soloist Diploma Course at Toho Gakuen School of Music, at the Kronberg Academy, and completed her studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with the highest distinction. Her teachers have included Kaori Tajiri, Sachika Mizuno, Koichiro Harada, and Mihaela Martin.
She is currently playing the 1717 Stradivarius “Sasserno,” generously loaned to her by the Nippon Music Foundation.
 

Tomomi Ota began studying the accordion in her childhood. After graduating from the Piano Department of Kunitachi College of Music Senior High School, she moved to Germany, where she graduated at the top of her class from the Folkwang University of the Arts in the accordion soloist course, obtaining the German national artist diploma. She studied with Mie Miki and also continued her training at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna.
Since returning to Japan, she has been active as a soloist and chamber musician, premiering new works and performing with orchestras. In addition, she gives workshops on the accordion at music universities across Japan, dedicating herself especially to promoting the instrument in the fields of classical and contemporary music, conveying its fascination and potential.
She is currently a lecturer for accordion at the Senior High School affiliated with Tokyo College of Music.
 

Yoshie Ueno graduated at the top of her class from Tokyo University of the Arts and completed her Master’s degree at the same institution. She has won numerous prestigious prizes, including First Prize at the 76th Japan Music Competition, along with four special prizes including the Audience Prize; First Prize at the 2nd Tokyo Music Competition; and First Prize and Audience Prize at the 15th Japan Woodwind Competition.
As a soloist, she has performed with many orchestras in Japan and abroad. She has released 13 CDs to date. Her 2021 album Toshio Hosokawa: Works for Flute received high praise from European media.
After extensive concert activities in the United States and Europe, she was awarded the S&R Washington Award in 2018 and performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, among other venues. Since returning to Japan, she continues to pursue an active international concert career.
 

Masanori Oishi is a saxophonist widely active in the field of classical music, particularly contemporary repertoire, and has been involved in numerous world and Japan premieres.
As a soloist, he has appeared at major festivals and concert series such as Tokyo Opera City’s B→C and Composium, the Suntory Hall Summer Festival, the Takefu International Music Festival, and Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall’s Just Composed. He has also performed at festivals across Europe and Asia, given recitals, and conducted masterclasses at conservatories, establishing an international profile.
After graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts and its graduate school, he studied in France and completed his diploma at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. He is the recipient of the 13th Keizo Saji Prize and the Excellence Award in the Recording Division of the Agency for Cultural Affairs Arts Festival (2019).
His latest album, Light and Darkness – Toshio Hosokawa Works for Saxophone (Cairos), has been released to wide acclaim.
 

Graduate of the Department of Performance and Creative Studies (Percussion) at Kunitachi College of Music, currently enrolled in the Diploma Course at the same institution. She has studied with Kazunori Meguro, Futoshi Shimizu, and Toru Uematsu.

In 2023, she was awarded a short-term overseas music study scholarship from the Segi Arts Foundation. The same year, she was selected as a member of the Youth Orchestra organized by the Taiwan Philharmonic and participated in a nationwide tour of five concerts across Taiwan.

Alongside her guest appearances with professional orchestras since her student years, she has also been dedicated to music education, giving workshops and performances for audiences ranging from infants to high school students.
 

Yuto Kawasaki graduated at the top of his class from the Percussion Course at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music, where he also performed at the graduation concert. During his first to third years, he received the Outstanding Achievement Award in the Percussion Course and was awarded the Maeda Memorial Scholarship three times. He is currently enrolled in the Diploma Course at Kunitachi College of Music.
In 2023, he won the Grand Prize at the 40th New Percussionist Concert organized by the Japan Percussion Association. He has also participated in recordings and events for the anime Sound! Euphonium 3.
Kawasaki is a member of the steelpan orchestra PAN NOTE MAGIC and is active in a wide range of performances, including percussion ensemble, marimba, and steelpan.
 

Born in 2002. Graduated in 2024 from Kunitachi College of Music, Department of Performance and Creative Studies, specializing in strings, winds, and percussion (percussion major). While at university, she appeared in the 112th Solo and Chamber Music Regular Concert. Upon graduation, she performed at the 49th Tokyo Dōchōkai Newcomers Concert. She is currently enrolled in the Diploma Course at Kunitachi College of Music.
She received the Excellence Prize and the Tomoyuki Okada Prize at the 18th JBA Tokyo-Kanagawa Wind and Percussion Solo Contest.
Her principal teachers in percussion include Masayuki Niino, Hidehiko Kōnishi, Hisae Hirako, and Shoko Shinya. She is currently a lecturer at the Tokyo Music Academy.
 

Born in Shizuoka Prefecture. Graduated from Hamamatsu Municipal High School. He has performed as a percussion soloist at several competitions, including the Japan Junior Wind and Percussion Competition and the “Great Wall Cup” International Music Competition, winning First Prize in the percussion category. He also passed the audition for the 29th Shizuoka no Meishu-tachi (“Masters of Shizuoka”).
His principal teachers include Kazunori Momose, Hidehiko Kōnishi, and Yuki Nakamura (percussion), as well as Momoko Kamiya (marimba).
He is currently in his second year of the Percussion Course at Kunitachi College of Music, where he studies as a Special Scholarship Student.
 

Born in Saitama Prefecture. Graduated from Ina Gakuen Comprehensive High School. She won the Gold Prize and the Superintendent of the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education Prize at the 16th Japan Wind, String, and Percussion Solo Contest.
Her principal teachers in percussion include Hidehiko Kōnishi, Keiko Nishikawa, and Atsumi Tsunakawa, and in marimba, Mitsuyo Wada.
She is currently in her second year of the Percussion Course at Kunitachi College of Music.
 

Born in Saitama Prefecture. Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music Senior High School and is currently a second-year student at Kunitachi College of Music. He began piano and electronic organ at the age of four and percussion at the age of twelve.
He received the Accord Prize at the 28th Saitama-Gunma Solo Contest Special Competition and was a prizewinner at the 33rd Japan Classical Music Competition National Finals.
His teachers in percussion and marimba include Shiho Morimoto, Itaru Akuhara, Ai Sakakibara, and Toru Uematsu.
 

Yoshinao Kihara is a conductor and composer. From the age of sixteen, he studied conducting under Seiji Ozawa. He completed the Master’s Program in Orchestral Conducting at the Berlin University of the Arts, and the Master’s Program in Choral Conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, where he graduated with the highest honors and received the Würdigungspreis.
Kihara has received numerous awards, including the 25th Goto Memorial Foundation Opera Newcomer Award, the 31st Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Music Award for opera performances, and the 35th Music Pen Club Award (Contemporary Music Division). He has been a scholarship recipient of the Rohm Music Foundation, the Honjo International Scholarship Foundation, and a trainee of the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists. He also won First Prize at the 4th Tokyo Cantat Choral Conducting Competition for Young Conductors.
He has conducted productions such as Robert Wilson/Philip Glass’s opera Einstein on the Beach (Kanagawa Kenmin Hall 50th Anniversary Opera Series Vol. 1), and the Scenes Recital 2023 of the Opera Studio at the New National Theatre, Tokyo. He has also conducted the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Gunma Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, the Wiener Singverein, and the New National Theatre Chorus, among others.
As a composer and arranger, he collaborated with baritone Masumitsu Miyamoto’s Mozart Singers Japan recording project, completing and preparing piano reductions of Mozart’s unfinished operas Zaide and Lo sposo deluso. He arranged Mozart’s Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman Variations for orchestra and conducted the premiere with the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra. He also received a commission from the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus, with his new work scheduled to premiere under his baton at their 266th Subscription Concert in January 2025.
He has served as Principal Conductor of the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus (2019–2025). He is currently a lecturer at Kunitachi College of Music and a visiting lecturer at Toho Gakuen Graduate School of Music.
Website: www.yoshinaokihara.com