Joe Hisaishi

Joe Hisaishi started to show his interest in minimal music when he was a student at Kunitachi College of Music, and embarked on his career as a composer. The presentation of MKWAJU in 1981 and the release of his first album Information the following year kicked off his career as a solo artist. Since his debut he has released nearly 40 solo albums. Starting with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Hisaishi has produced music for 10 Hayao Miyazaki films. He also composed the music for HANA-BI, Departures, Villain, The Tale of Princess Kaguya and What a Wonderful Family!. He has collaborated on the music production of nearly 80 films in Japan and abroad. His works have won many awards including the Chinese film The Postmodern Life of My Aunt which won the Best Original Film Score at the 27^th Hong Kong Film Awards.

In July 2004 Hisaishi was appointed Music Director of the New Japan Philharmonic “World Dream Orchestra”. In 2013 he became Artistic Director of Nagano City Arts Centre, and since September 2014 he has been working as a producer and conductor, presenting contemporary music concerts called “JOE HISAISHI presents MUSIC FUTURE”. This concert series earned him enormous popularity and was recorded as a live album. Some of his most recent works have included TRI-AD and The East Land Symphony.