JOE HISAISHI PROFILE

While at Kunitachi College of Music,He discovered his passion for Minimal music,and he started his carrier as compositor of contemporary music. His first album, MKWAJU, was released in 1981, with Information being released a year later. After that, Piano Stories, My Lost City,ETUDE a Wish to the Noon, Asian X.T.C,Another Piano Stories End of the World , he has created many solo albums and has established his own style performing in different genre of music. Starting with Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind(1984), He has produced music for 9 films directed by Hayao Miyasaki, including Spirited Away(2001),Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008). He also provided music for HANA-BI (1997)and BROTHER(2001) directed by Takeshi Kitano , and for Okuribito(2008) by Yojiro Takita , which won Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film(2009). His works have won many awards including several Outstanding Achievement in Music of Japan Academy Prize,achieving his vital position in Japanese film industry. In recent years, he has provided musics for foreign films as a Korean filmWelcom to Dongmakgol(2006) which won Best Misic prize of Korean Film Award, Chinese film The Postmodern Life of My Aunt(2006) (won Best Music prize of 27th Hong Kong Academy Award). At home and abroad, his music have always been extremely well-received. In 2001,Hisaishi made his debut as a film director in Quartet(2001),taking charge of the theme music and script (co-writing). The film,receiving excellent reviews, was introduced as the first full-scale musical film in Japan and it was nominated to World Competition of the Montreal Festival.

He performs energetically music, giving many style performance including piano solo,ensemble and orchestra performance. His activities at abroad in 2004 at Cannes International Film Festival, Hisaishi became the first japanese musician who conducted an orchestra,performing The General at the film concert. At the tour in Asia 2006, the collaboration with the top philharmonic of 5 cities had extremely success. He assumed a post of first music director of World Dream Orchestra (W.D.O), newly formed orchestra project by New Japan Philharmonic. In August 2008, Joe Hisaishi in Budokan -25 years with the Animation of Hayao Miyazaki-was held and he made a huge success by leading a large orchestration totaling 1200 people including choirs, wind orchestra and marching band,while himself co-performing by playing piano. In 2009, he started full-scale activities as a conductor and did a debut with OTTAVA. In May,he organized a concertJoe Hisaishi Classics vol.1. Afterward,the concert Joe Hisaishi Classics vol.2 was held in February 2010 as Joe Hisaishi Classic Series. Releasing his live-recording album JOE HISAISHI CLASSICS from Wonder land record,he keeps transmitting the attraction information for classical music to a wide group of people from the viewpoint of contemporary musician. In August 2009,Hisaishi released his solo album Minima_Rhythm together with London Philharmonic Orchestra,and he hit the road on the orchestra tour covering 12 cities in Japan. In November, he was awarded with a Medal of Honor with purple ribbon by the Government of Japan. In 2010, he become the visiting professor of Kunitachi College of Music and puts his efforts into teaching young people while working for his own music activities. The filmAkunin(2010)of which he took over as musical director and his new solo continued album co-played with London Philharmonic Orchestra 2010 will be released in autumn. His unique inputs to the concerts as a contemporary musical composer is highly appreciated and his continuous enthusiasm for musical activities that go beyond ordinary creative work is anticipated worldwide.

He is the author of several books: Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co.,Ltd. 2006,(TAKARAJIMASHA Inc. 2007), and collective writing with Dr.Takeshi Yoro

Award History of Key Works

HANA-BIDirected by Takeshi Kitano in 1997; Prestigious Golden Lion at the 1997 Venice Film Festival The Best Film Music award of the 22nd Japan Academy Award in 1999 Kikujiro no Natsu (Kikujiro) (Directed by Takeshi Kitano in 1999) The Best Film Music award of the 23rd Japan Academy Award in 2000 Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away) (Directed by Hayao Miyazaki in 2001) Soundtrack of Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi receives Animation Album of the Year at the 16th Gold Disk Award Howl no Ugoku Shiro (Howl s Moving Castle) (Directed by Hayao Miyazaki in 2004) 2005 The Best Film Music Award of Los Angeles Film Critic Association Awards Welcome to Dongmakgol (Directed by Park Kwang-Heyon in 2005, Korea) The Best Film Music Award of the 4th MBC Film Award(Korean Academy Awards) Taewangsashingi (Korean TV epic drama directed by Kim Jonghak in 2007, Korea) The Best Original Score for Television of International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) Awards 2007 The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (Directed by Ann Hui in 2006, Hong Kong) The Best Original Film Score Award of the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards(HK Academy Awards) Received tribute at the Deauville-Asia Film Festival in 2008

Gake no Ue no Ponyo (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea) (Directed by Hayao Miyazaki in 2008) The Best Film Music award of the 32nd Japan Academy Award in 2009 Soundtrack of Gake no Ue no Ponyo receives Soundtrack Album of the Year at the 23rd Japan Gold Disk Award (2009) Nominated to the Best Film Music award of the 3rd Asian Film Awards in 2009 Piano Stories Best 88- 08 receives Instrumental Album of the Year at the 23rd Japan Gold Disk Award (2009) Okuribito (Departures) (Directed by Yojiro Takita in 2008; Best Foreign Language Film at 81st Oscar award in 2009) The Best Film Music award of the 32nd Japan Academy Award in 2009

Joe Hisaishi
Joe Hisaishi

Joe Hisaishi in Paris in 2011 Background information Birth name Born Origin Genres Occupations Instruments Years active Website Mamoru Fujisawa December 6, 1950 (age 61) Nagano, Japan Film score, New Age, Neoclassical Musical director, composer, conductor, arranger Violin, piano, keyboard 1974present http://www.joehisaishi.com/

Mamoru Fujisawa ( Fujisawa Mamoru?), known professionally as Joe Hisaishi ( Hisaishi J?, born December 6, 1950), is a composer and director known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. While possessing a stylistically distinct sound, Hisaishi's music has been known to explore and incorporate different genres, including minimalist, experimental electronic, European classical, and Japanese classical. Lesser known are the other musical roles he plays; he is also a typesetter, author, arranger, and head of an orchestra. He is best known for his work with animator Hayao Miyazaki, having composed scores for many of his films including Nausica of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Castle in the

Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Porco Rosso (1992), Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001), Howl's Moving Castle (2004) and Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008). He is also recognized for the soundtracks he has provided for filmmaker 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, including A Scene at the Sea (1991), Dolls (2002), Kikujiro (1999), Hana-bi (1997), Kids Return (1996), Ocean Heaven (2010) and Sonatine (1993).

Biography
Joe Hisaishi was born in Nakano, Nagano, Japan as Mamoru Fujisawa ( Fujisawa Mamoru?). When he started to take violin lessons at age five, Hisaishi discovered his passion for music. Realizing his love, he attended the Kunitachi College of Music in 1969 to major in music composition. Hisaishi collaborated with minimalist artists as a typesetter, furthering his experience in the musical world. He enjoyed his first success of the business in 1974 when he composed music for a small animation called Gyatoruzu. This and other early works were created under his given name. During this period, he composed for Sasuga no Sarutobi (Academy of Ninja) and Futari Taka (A Full Throttle). In the 1970s, Japanese popular music, electronic music, and new-age music flourished; those genres, as well as the Yellow Magic Orchestra (a Japanese electronic band in 19781983), influenced Hisaishi's compositions. He developed his music from minimalist ideas and expanded toward orchestral work. Around 1975, Hisaishi presented his first public performance, spreading his name around his community. His first album, MKWAJU, was released in 1981, with Information being released a year later. As his works were becoming well known, Hisaishi formulated an alias inspired by Quincy Jones, an African-American musician and producer. Retranscribed in Japanese, "Quincy Jones" became "Joe Hisaishi." ("Quincy," pronounced "Kuishi" in Japanese, can be written using the same kanji in "Hisaishi"; "Joe" comes from "Jones.") In 1983, with his new name, Hisaishi was recommended by a record company to create an album for Nausica of the Valley of the Wind. Hisaishi and the director of the animated film, Hayao Miyazaki, became great friends and would work together on many future projects. This big break led to Hisaishi's overwhelming success as a composer of film scores. In 1986, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and later, in the 1990s, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, were released. As Hisaishi strengthened his reputation as one of the budding anime industry's top musical contributors, his compositions (including eight theatrical films and one OAV) would proceed to become some of the very hallmarks of early anime in the 1980s and 1990s. Hisaishi also composed for such TV hits as Sasuga no Sarutobi, Two Down Full Base and anime Tekuno porisu 21C (all 1982), Sasrygar (1983), Futari Taka (1984), Hon no Alpen Rose (1985) and Ozu no mahtsukai (1986). He also scored the sci-fi adventure series Mospeada (1983), which was later reworked (without his music) into the third segment of Carl Macek's compilation, Robotech. Other films he scored included Birth (Bsu) (1984), Arion (1986), Totoro (1988), Venus Wars (1989), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Ocean Heaven (2010) and Porco Rosso (1992). As more exposure was given to Hisaishi and the anime industry, his career grew. He initiated a solo career, began to produce music, and created his own label (Wonder Land Inc.). A year later, the label released its first album, Pretender, in New York. As a result of his work throughout the years, Hisaishi has won the Japanese Academy Award for Best Music six timesin 1992,[1] 1993,[2] 1994,[3] 1999,[4] 2000,[5] 2009,[6]

and 2011.[7] He also received the 48th Newcomer Award in 1997 from the Ministry of Education (Public Entertainment Section) among numerous other awards, being recognized as an influential figure in the Japanese film industry. In 1998, he provided the soundtrack to the 1998 Winter Paralympics. The following year, he composed the music for the third installment in a series of popular computeranimated educational films about the human body. In 2001, Hisaishi produced music for Takeshi Kitano's film, Brother, and Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece, Spirited Away. He also served as executive producer of the Night Fantasia 4 Movement at the Japan Expo in Fukushima 2001. On October 6, Hisaishi made his debut as a film director in Quartet, having also written both its music and script. The film received excellent reviews at the Montreal Film Festival. His first soundtrack for a foreign film, Le Petit Poucet, was released in the same year. Another Miyazaki film, Howl's Moving Castle, for which Hisaishi composed the score, was released on November 20, 2004 in Japan. From November 3 to November 29, 2004, Hisaishi embarked on his "Joe Hisaishi Freedom Piano Stories 2004" tour with Canadian musicians. In 2005, he composed the soundtrack for the Korean film, Welcome to Dongmakgol ( ). He also partook in Korea's historically landmarked big budget drama series production by composing the soundtrack for Korea's MBC drama series, The Legend ( "The Story of the First King's Four Gods"), which released in 2007. Hisaishi has a large fan base in Korea due to the popularity of Miyazaki films. In 2006, Hisaishi released a studio album, Asian X.T.C., the compositions of which demonstrated a significantly eclectic and contemporary Eastern style. The erhu player of the Chinese band 12 Girls Band Zhan Li Jun played in a live concert featuring music from that album. The following year, he composed and recorded the soundtrack for Frederic Lepage's film, Sunny and the Elephant and the Miyazaki film, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, both released in 2008, as well as the score for Jiang Wen's film, The Sun Also Rises. In 2008, Hisaishi composed soundtracks for Academy Award-winning film Departures as well as for I'd Rather Be a Shellfish ( Watashi wa Kai ni Naritai?), a post-World War II war crimes trial drama which is based on the 1959 Tetsutaro Kato novel and film currently being remade and directed by Katsuo Fukuzawa, starring Masahiro Nakai and Yukie Nakama. Hisaishi also released a new solo album in early 2009 featuring tracks from Shellfish and Departures. In November 2009, he was awarded with a Medal of Honour with purple ribbon by the Government of Japan.[8]