String Quartets Nos.0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 : Flux Quartet (2CD)‐Ichiyanagi, Toshi (1933-) - Japan 2 CD

Credits:

Flux String Quartet

Description:

Toshi Ichiyanagi (Composition/Piano) was born in Kobe, Japan. Studied composition under John Cage, piano under Chieko Hara and B. Webster. In 1949, when he was in high school, he won the first prize in the composition division of the Mainichi Music Competition (now the Japan Music Competition), and in 1952, at the age of 19, he went to the United States and graduated from the Juilliard School. During this period, he received the E. Coolidge Prize and the A. Grechaninov Prize. In 1961, he returned to Japan at the invitation of the Institute for Twentieth Century Music, where his performances and introductions of his own works as well as new works from Europe and the U.S. have been a strong stimulus in various fields. He has received commissions from the Vienna Moderne, Berlin Festival, BBC, Orchestre de Paris, Tonhalle Zurich, and Avanti! He has been commissioned to perform works by the BBC, Orchestre de Paris, Tonhalle Zurich, Avanti! in Finland, etc. He has also presented and produced many new works at Kanagawa Prefectural Hall, including the operas "Momo" (premiere of revised version in 1998), "White Night of Love" (world premiere in 2006 and revised version in 2009) and "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" (world premiere in 2012).He has received the Otaka Prize five times, the French Order of Arts and Letters, the Mainichi Art Award, the Kyoto Music Award Grand Prize, the Suntory Music Award, the John Cage Prize, the Japan Art Academy Award, the Imperial Prize, and many other awards. He has been a recipient of the Medal with Purple Ribbon and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, and has been a Person of Cultural Merit since 2008. He is currently President of the Japan-Finland New Music Society and General Artistic Director of the Kanagawa Arts Foundation. Flux String Quartet was founded in 1997 by violinist Tom Chiu. The quartet has performed at international music festivals in Australia, Europe, and the United States, as well as at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, where they have received rave reviews. The ensemble has performed works by Cage, Feldman, Ligeti, Nancarrow, Xenakis, and other leading composers of the late 20th century, and has premiered over 100 new works by Michael Byron, Giulio Estrada, Ichiyanagi, and others. He has also been active in recording, most notably with his recording of Morton Feldman's six-hour-long String Quartet No. 2 in its entirety (Mode Records). 2015, his first performance in Japan at Kanagawa Kenmin Hall, and 2005, Feldman's "String Quartet No. 2" at Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo, were both major highlights. No. 2" at Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo in 2005, both drew great attention. Camerata Tokyo