After gaining interest in minimal music in his student days, Joe Hisaishi started his career as a contemporary composer.Over the last 30 years, he has been well known to have composed for many film scores; he has also been touring as a conductor in the last year.However, During this time, he has also continued to compose minimal music, the music which started his love for composition.
In 2014, Hisaishi started his extremely unique concert series‘MUSIC FUTURE’where he personally hand selects the repertoire in hopes of introducing new composers to the Japanese public.
The first of the concert series,‘Vol.1’in 2014 saw him introduce the works of Arvo Part and Henryk Gorecki as well as two of his new minimalistic compositions.He also performed music by Nico Muhly, a renowned post-classical composer – A genre seemingly popular with the younger generation in recent days. In ‘Vol.2’ (2015) he performed Steve Reich’s ‘Octet’, John Adams’ ‘Chamber Symphony’ and his own work, this time with largely monophonic features, including ‘Single Track Music 1 for 4 Saxophones & Percussion’ and ‘Chamber Symphony’ for six-string electric violin.‘Vol.3’ (2016) included a programme of works by Pulitzer Prize winner, David Lang and ‘Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 9’ by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg. ‘Vol.4’ (2017) introduced Gabriel Prokofiev’s ‘String Quartet No. 2’ and Hisaishi’s own composition ‘Chamber Symphony No. 2 – The Black Fireworks’ performed on Bandoneon by Kazuma Miura.‘Vol.5’(2018) he invited soloists Maya Beiser (cello) and Molly Netter (soprano). In this year, he also joined forces with his great friend David Lang which saw him perform not only in Tokyo but also in New York. And‘Vol.6’(2019) where he welcomed the world-renowned piano duo, Maki Namekawa and Dennis Russell Davies. He also performed his own compositions again and Philip Glass’‘Piano Sonata’ which created a huge buzz in Japan. In Vol.7(2020) , he introduced a piece by Nico Muhly who couldn’t come to Japan due to the influence of the pandemic.”Vol.8″ in 2021 introduced pieces such as Bryce Dessner and Lepo Sumera.In “Vol.9″(2022), where Nico Muhly finally came to Japan, Hisaishi performed the viola concerto “Viola Saga” for viola player Nadia Sirota, and Nico Muhry performed “Roots, Pulses”, which was commissioned for this concert and performed in New York.In 2023, the 10th year of the series, “Vol.10” featured Terry Riley, whom Hisaishi had always admired, and a collaboration that will go down in the history of minimal music was realized.
In 2024, we will collaborate with “FUTURE ORCHESTRA CLASSICS”, which Joe Hisaishi has conducted from a composer’s perspective, under the title “MUSIC FUTURE SPECIAL 2024”