Yoshiaki Onishi

Born| 1981 (age 42-43)
Hokkaido, Japan
Genres| Contemporary classical
Occupation(s)| Composer, Conductor, Clarinetist
Instrument| Clarinet
Years active| 2000-present
Website| yoshionishi.com

Musical artist

Yoshiaki Onishi (大西 義明, Onishi Yoshiaki, born 1981 in Hokkaido, Japan) is a Japanese-American composer, conductor, and clarinetist.[1] He is a recipient of several international prizes and honors. He currently resides in the United States. In 2018 he won a Guggenheim Fellowship and is currently the Assistant Professor of Music Composition at the University of Delaware School of Music.[2]

## Education

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In 2000 he entered the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific, studying composition and clarinet, graduating in 2004.[3] Between 2005 and 2008 he did his graduate studies in music composition at Yale University.[4] In February 2015 he received his doctorate from Columbia University, where his principal teachers have been Fabien Lévy, Tristan Murail and Fred Lerdahl.

## Awards

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* Fromm Commission (2018) [5]

* Guggenheim Fellowship (2018) [6]
* Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship (2012) [7]
* Gaudeamus International Composers Award (2011) [8]

## Onishi as a composer

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Onishi’s music has been in part characterized by the engineering of timbres. In his 2009 work for string quartet, Culs-de-sac (en passacaille), he employs varieties of extended techniques for the string instruments. Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times said of the piece: “Who needs electronic instruments when a composer can draw such varied, eerily alluring sounds from good old string instruments?”.[9]

Onishi’s works have been commissioned by performers and organizations including Mayumi Miyata, Pacific Music Festival, Norfolk and Lucerne Festivals.[10] His composition, Départ dans… was commissioned by Takefu International Music Festival in 2010, and became the winning piece of the Gaudeamus Prize in Music Composition in 2011.

Performance organizations, including JACK Quartet, Quatuor Diotima, Yarn/Wire, Nieuw Ensemble, Ensemble Intercontemporain, and Klangforum Wien have performed Onishi’s works.[11]

Since 2014, Onishi's works are published by Edition Gravis Verlag.[12]

### Works

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The following is a partial list of works.

* Gz III (2019–20), for bass clarinet and bassoon
* Second String Quartet (2019–20)
* Antefenas-Studies (2018), for ensemble and electronics
* Vgf II (2011), for 15 players
* Gz, a Vuza Canon (2017), for tenor recorder and shakuhachi
* Envoi II (2017), for string trio
* Tramespace (2012–15), diptych for large ensemble
* Palinody (2010), for 14 players in 7 groups
* Départ dans... (2010), for 5 players
* Culs-de-sac (en passacaille) (2009, rev. 2010/18), for string quartet

## Onishi as a conductor

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During his time at the University of Missouri School of Music in Columbia, Missouri, Onishi became an assistant conductor of the Mizzou New Music Ensemble.[13] Previously he was an assistant conductor of the Columbia University Orchestra until 2013.[14] He is also affiliated with New York-based percussion ensemble Iktus Percussion as a conductor of the Iktus+.[15] He has also guest conducted several ensembles, including the Wet Ink Ensemble. [16]

## References

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1. ^ "Yoshiaki Onishi Biography". Curators of the University of Missouri. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
2. ^ "About – Yoshiaki Onishi". Retrieved 2023-10-10.
3. ^ "Success Stories". www.pacific.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-10-29.
4. ^ music.yale.edu 17.03.2017 11:49:54 UTC
5. ^ "Yoshiaki Onishi | Fromm Music Foundation". Retrieved April 25, 2020.
6. ^ "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Fellows".
7. ^ civitella.org 17.03.2017 14:35 UTC
8. ^ "Muziek Centrum Nederland: Music Week 2011". Archived from the original on February 26, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
9. ^ Tommasini, Anthony (1 July 2010). "New Faces Head Off to a Venerable Spot". New York Times. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
10. ^ "List of Compositions". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2009.
11. ^ "Compositions - Yoshiaki Onishi, composer/conductor". 28 October 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
12. ^ "Edition Gravis - New Authors". www.editiongravis.de.
13. ^ "Ensembles | Mizzou New Music Initiative". Retrieved April 25, 2020.
14. ^ "Staff - Columbia University Orchestra". Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
15. ^ iktuspercussion.com 17.03.2017 14:40 UTC
16. ^ Kozinn, Allan (27 January 2012). "New Music Opens a New Hall". New York Times. Retrieved 4 July 2012.

## External links

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* Official Website
* Onishi's Page on Columbia Composers
* Interview by Radio 4, The Netherlands
* National Public Radio: “JACK Quartet and ICE, In Concert At (Le) Poisson Rouge”
* Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2011 Jury Report
* Onishi's Vimeo Site
* Onishi's Soundcloud Site

* v
* t
* e

Gaudeamus International Composers Award

1957–69|

* Peter Schat (1957)
* Otto Ketting (1958)
* Louis Andriessen (1959)
* Lars Johan Werle (1960)
* Misha Mengelberg, Per Nørgård, and Enrique Raxach (1961)
* Pauline Oliveros (1962)
* Arne Mellnäs (1963)
* Ib Nørholm (1964)
* Joep Straesser and Mario Bertoncini (1965)
* Alfred Janson and Ton Bruynèl (1966)
* Hans-Joachim Hespos, Costin Miereanu, Maurice Benhamou, Jean-Yves Bosseur, Tona Scherchen, and Ralph Lundsten – Leo Nilson (1967)
* Vinko Globokar (1968)
* Jos Kunst (1969)

1970–89|

* Jan Vriend (1970)
* John McGuire (1971)
* Daniel Lentz (1972)
* Maurice Weddington (1973)
* Christian Dethleffsen (1974)
* Robert Saxton (1975)
* Fabio Vacchi (1976)
* Șerban Nichifor (1977)
* Stefan Dragostinov (1978)
* Mauro Cardi (1984)
* Unsuk Chin (1985)
* Uros Rojko (1986)
* Karen Tanaka (1987)
* Michael Jarrell (1988)
* Richard Barrett (1989)

1990s|

* Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf and Paolo Aralla (1990)
* Asbjørn Schaathun (1991)
* Jörg Birkenkötter (1992)
* David del Puerto (1993)
* Richard Ayres (1994)
* Michael Oesterle and Jesus Torres (1995)
* Régis Campo (1996)
* Hang Zou (1997)
* Kumiko Omura and Geoff Hannan (1998)
* Michel van der Aa (1999)

2000s|

* Yannis Kyriakides (2000)
* Palle Dahlstedt and Takuya Imahori (2001)
* Valerio Murat (2002)
* Dmitri Kourliandski (2003)
* Sampo Haapamäki (2004)
* Oscar Bianchi (2005)
* Lefteris Papadimitriou and Gabriel Paiuk (2006)
* Christopher Trapani (2007)
* Huck Hodge (2008)
* Ted Hearne (2009)

2010s|

* Marko Nikodijević (2010)
* Yoshiaki Onishi (2011)
* Konstantin Heuer (2012)
* Tobias Klich (2013)
* Anna Korsun (2014)
* Alexander Khubeev (2015)
* Anthony Vine (2016)
* Aart Strootman (2017)
* Sebastian Hilli (2018)
* Kelley Sheehan (2019)

2020s|

* Annika Socolofsky (2021)
* Rohan Chander (2022)
* Zara Ali (2023)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States

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