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Natsuda, Masakazu (b. 1968, Tokyo). Japanese composer of mostly orchestral and chamber works
that have been performed throughout Asia, Europe and the USA; he is also active
as a conductor.
Mr. Natsuda studied composition with Jo Kondo, Masayuki Nagatomi and Teruyuki Noda at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he graduated with top honors in 1991 and from its graduate school in 1993. He also studied conducting with Kazuyoshi Akiyama at the Senzoku-Gakuen University. From 1993-97, he studied composition with Gérard Grisey and conducting with Jean-Sébastien Bereau at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he graduated with a unanimous premier prix.
Among his honors are the Ataka Prize (1989), Third
Prize in the Japan Music Competition (1991, for Rapprochement), First Prize in the Shin-Kyo Competition (1991, for Morphogenesis, which was also nominated
for the Akutagawa Prize [1992]), and the Idemitsu Music Prize (1992). He also earned
a special mention of the jury in the Goffredo Petrassi Competition (1997, for Vishnu’s Navel), as well as Third Prize in the Fundação Oriente International
Young Conductors Competition (1997) and the Akutagawa Prize (2002, for Astration).
Court-circuit, saxophonist Claude Delangle, the ensemble 2e2m, the Dutch Radio Symphony Orchestra, l’Ensemble Intercontemporain, the NHK Symphony Orchestra Ensemble, the Tokyo City Philharmonic, and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra have performed his works and Hiroyuki Iwaki, Hong-je Kim, Paul Méfano, Pascal Rophé, Jac van Steen, and Naohiro Totsuka have conducted them. His music was featured at the Gaudeamus Music Week in 1998 and is regularly heard in France and Japan.
In 1992, he made his début as a conductor, with his
own Morphogenesis, as played by the
New Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo. He now often conducts new music ensembles and
recently led performances of Voltex
Temporum I-III by Gérard Grisey
and The Desert Music by
Steve Reich. He has been the conductor of the
contemporary ensemble Alpha since 1998 and the Ensemble Vivo since 2001.
Since 1998, he has taught composition and theory at
the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, the Toho-Gakuen
University, the Nihon University, and the Kunitachi University of Music.
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-mail address: natsuda@pk.highway.ne.jp
Street address: Mr. Masakazu Natsuda, 5-19-20-101 Saginomiya, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 165-0032, Japan
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
ORCHESTRAL: Morphogenesis, oboe, orchestra, 1991; The String of Life, violin, orchestra, 1993; Soliton, small orchestra, 1995; Megalithic Waves, small orchestra, 1997; Astration – in memoriam Gérard Grisey, 2001; Tableau avec Ré, Fa, La, small orchestra, 2002
CHAMBER MUSIC: Rapprochement, flute, oboe, 2 violins, 2 violas, piano, 1991; Quatre Prismes dans l’Espace, 12 trumpets, 3 percussion, 1991; Sous un ciel étoile, près de l’eau, 2 violins, piano, 2 percussion, 1992; Divergence, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, 1994; Trois Dessins, trombone, harp, violin, viola, cello, percussion, 1995; West, or Evening Song in Autumn, soprano saxophone, percussion, 1996; Gallop, flute, piano, 1996 (also version for flute, clarinet, violin, piano, 1999); Motet de l’aube, hommage à Guillaume de Machaut, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, 3 violins, percussion, 1998; Les chants préhistoriques I, violin, 1999; Scherzo pour Trio Trichronochrome, French horn, violin, piano, 1999; Rencontre, flute, violin, percussion, 2000; Les chants préhistoriques II, violin, 2000; Equatorial Song, flute, prepared piano, 2000; Stumbling Drums in Savanna, percussion, 2001; Falling, flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano, 2002
PIANO: Flux et Reflux, 1994; Flots, ‘Dan-no-ura’, 1997
ORGAN: Parcours entre Vitraux et Absidioles, 1993; Electro-Spiral, ‘The Ladder of Life’, electronic organ, 1993; Gameraphony, 2 electronic organs, 1998
(Last updated on January 15, 2003)
