BIOGRAPHY

Kotoka Suzuki was born in Tokyo in 1972 and moved to Canada in 1984. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University in 1994 and a doctorate in composition at Stanford University in 1999. Her composition teachers include Jonathan Harvey, Brian Ferneyhough, York Höller and Franco Donatoni. Suzuki has served as Artist-in-Residence at numerous international festivals and workshops in France, Germany, the USA and Cuba. Suzuki composes instrumental and electroacoustic music, for dance and film. In her work she combines elements of traditional Japanese music with western traditions. Her music is frequently performed and recorded for broadcast in Canada and the USA. She has received several international awards for her music, in France, Germany, USA and Czech Republic. In 2001 she was awarded the Robert Fleming Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts. Suzuki joined the composition faculty at the University of Chicago in 2004.

SCORE PDF (Adobe Acrobat required)

PROGRAM NOTES

Programme Note, Minyo

Minyo consists of five short movements, which are largely influenced by Japanese folk music. Elements of folk music can be heard directly in the variations of pitch and rhythm. Strings also imitate the sounds of the traditional instruments commonly used in folk music: shamisen (guitar), koto (harp), taiko (drum), and voice. These seemingly contrasting movements are interconnected by the reoccurrence of these four components.

Credits: Kotoka Suzuki
Creator: Kotoka Suzuki
Subject: Minyo
Date Created: 1997

INTERVIEW

Interview, Suzuki’s Cultural Influences: Japan to Canada

“I adore things that are intricate, fragile, but strong at the same time: fragile on the surface, but containing a thin and strong support underneath that prevents everything from falling apart. Perhaps the combination of intricacy, fragility and strength is how I view the features of the Japanese culture.” – K.S.

Japanese culture is difficult to explain. One aspect of it, Suzuki offers, is the concept of “respect, such as respect of nature and wisdom. One is discouraged from being content with what one has already achieved, and to continuously seek for improvement. This is why it is highly admirable to fully focus solely on one element, and to strive to achieve the highest mastery in this chosen area.”

Suzuki traveled a great deal in her youth, and only lived in Japan for seven years. Minyo (the Japanese word for ‘folk music’), the string quartet featured here, was her first attempt to interpret Japanese cultural traditions in a western environment. Because of her well-traveled past, Suzuki was searching for a sense of belonging at this time, and for the next five years, all of her compositions were influenced by Japanese traditional music. Eventually she realised that her cultural heritage would always be present, whether she consciously included elements of it in her creative work or not. “It is not important for me [now] that one connects my music to a specific cultural heritage,” she writes. “It is more important for me that my works give a unique experience to the listeners.”

Credits: Dr. Mary Ingraham
Creator: Dr. Mary Ingraham
Subject: Kotoka Suzuki | Minyo
Date Created: 2007

PHOTO GALLERY

Photograph, Taiko Drum

A taiko drum, one of the Japanese instruments Suzuki imitates in Minyo.

Credits: www.taiko.com
Creator: Unknown
Subject: Taiko | Drum

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Photograph, Min'yo Ensemble

An ensemble consisting of shamisen, koto, and shakuhachi, an instrumentation typical of min'yo.

Credits: Beato
Creator: Beato
Subject: Japanese folk music | Koto | Shamisen | Shakuhachi
Date Created: 1860

WORDS

AUDIO

Minyo Excerpt, Kokiriko-bushi (587 KB)

Duration: 00:00:38

Kokiriko-bushi, originating in the Toyama Prefecture of Japan in the 7th century, is one of the oldest and well-known min'yo (Japanese folk song). Kokiriko are short, thin lengths of bamboo that a dancer strikes together during this song.

Credits: Ensemble Sakura. Kokiriko-bushi; www.minyo.info, date unknown.
Creator: Ensemble Sakura
Subject: Min'yo | Japanese folk song