is a Japanese composer of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

, especially famous for his

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

and

computer music Computer music is the application of computing technology in music composition, to help human composers create new music or to have computers independently create music, such as with algorithmic composition programs. It includes the theory and ap ...

Biography

Kenjiro Ezaki was born in

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" ...

(

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

). He studied at the

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice, in 1889. ...

in Tokyo from 1953 to 1957 under

Yoritsune Matsudaira was a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music. Matsudaira was descended, on his father's side of the family, from the Matsudaira clan, related to the Tokugawa clan who ruled Japan as ''shōgun'' during the Edo period (specifically ...

and later under

Vladimir Ussachevsky Vladimir Alexeevich Ussachevsky (November 3, 1911 in Hailar, China – January 2, 1990 in New York, New York) was a composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music. Biography Vladimir Ussachevsky was born in the Hailar Distric ...

at the

Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center The Computer Music Center (CMC) at Columbia University is the oldest center for electronic and computer music research in the United States. It was founded in the 1950s as the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Location The CMC is hous ...

. During his early years he received two composition awards: The first prize at Music Composition of Japan in 1956 and a first prize at the

ISCM The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following the ...

World Music Days in 1962 where his composition ''Beating'' was performed After his return to Japan Kenjiro Ezaki founded his own electronic music studio and was a member of a composer group called "Group Design" which focused on electronic and computer music. Other members of this group were Norihiko Wada, Satoshi Sumitani, and Komei Hayama. Ezaki was also a member of GROUP 20.5, a circle of Japanese composers of avantgarde music that was founded by

Hifumi Shimoyama Hifumi Shimoyama ( ja, 下山一二三 ''Shimoyama Hifumi''; born 21 June 1930 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture) is a Japanese composer of contemporary concert music. Since the 1960s, Shimoyama's music has been regularly featured on World Music ...

.website of the composer Hifumi Shimoyama, see: http://shimo123.music.coocan.jp/text1.html Ezaki composed the first known Japanese fully computer-based composition, which was premiered at the

Expo '70 The or Expo 70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

Compositions

* Symphonic poem for orchestra ''Japanese scenery'' (1958) * ''Presage'' by the system of mobile Configuration for Full Orchestra (1964 ) * ''Omen'' for Full Orchestra by the Modified System (1964) * ''Concretion'' for violin, viola and cello (1962) * Piano trio (1964) * ''Pharos No.2'' for flute, clarinet, oboe and piano (1964) * ''Composition 5'', for flute, 2 guitars, cello, percussion and soprano (1965) * ''Nodule'' for guitar (1964) * ''Discretion'' for female voice （女声のためのディスクレション）, for soprano and piano (1961) * ''Discretation'' for soprano (1962) * ''Concretion'' for three voices for soprano, tenor and baritone (1960) * ''Beating'' for three voices and percussion (1960) * Instruments, for soprano, tenor, bass and percussion (1961) * ''Dim Light'' for chorus and six instruments, for mixed chorus and flute, clarinet, bassoon, violin, cello and percussion (1962) * ''Moving Pulses'' （三声と打楽器のための動く鼓動） for three voices and percussion (1965) * Music for guitar and electronic sound （ギターと電子音のための音楽）(1967)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ezaki, Kenjiro 1926 births 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Japanese composers 20th-century Japanese male musicians 21st-century classical composers 21st-century Japanese composers 21st-century Japanese musicians 21st-century Japanese male musicians Japanese classical composers Japanese male classical composers Possibly living people Taiwanese classical composers