podcast 55-Yoshiaki Onishi (Gaudeamus Muziekweek)

Composer Conversations with Daniel Vezza

Yoshi a Japanese American composer and conductor who is currently a Teaching Fellow at Columbia University. His principal teachers at Columbia have been Fabien Lévy, Fred Lerdahl, and Tristan Murail. His music has been performed worldwide by such ensembles as JACK Quartet, Next Mushroom Promotion, and the Nieuw Ensemble. He was awarded the Gaudeamus Prize 2011. Other recent honors include an artistic residency fellowship from Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Umbertide, Italy, as well as a commission from Ensemble Intercontemporain. You can listen to more of his music at www.yoshionishi.com.

In our conversation we talk about how and why he came to the U.S., how he gets his initial impulse when beginning a piece, and his relationship to social media.

The first piece played in this podcast is Tramespace, performed by the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble conducted by Clark Rundell and recorded live by Richard de Gruyl for Concertzender/VPRO during Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2013. The second piece is Tr (épilogue) performed by Patrick McGuire.