Joji Yuasa

Joji Yuasa studied at Keio University and Fukushima Prefectural Asaka High School. The recorded working language is Japanese. The field of work recorded is music, composed musical work and music composition. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are contemporary classical music. Employment is recorded with Nihon University, University of California, San Diego and Tokyo College of Music. Work by Joji Yuasa is recorded in the collections of Museum of Modern Art. Distinctions recorded are Person of Cultural Merit, Medal with Purple Ribbon, The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette and Otaka prize.

• Name — Joji Yuasa • Native Name — 湯浅譲二 • Born — 12 August 1929 • Birthplace — Koriyama, Fukushima, Japan • Died — 21 July 2024 • Other Names — George Yuasa • Occupation — composer • Years Active — 1952–2024

Joji Yuasa was born in Kōriyama, Fukushima on 12 August 1929, and was a self-taught composer. He first became interested in music while a pre medical student at Keio University, and in 1952 he joined a young artists’ group Jikken Kōbō (Experimental Workshop, 1951–1957) in Tokyo, an organization for the exploration of new directions in the arts, including multimedia.

From 1981 to 1994 he was a music researcher and professor at the University of California, San Diego, where was later professor emeritus. He also served as a guest professor at the Tokyo College of Music from 1981, a professor at Nihon University from 1993, and an honorary member of the International Society for Contemporary Music. Yuasa is the recipient of a 1996 Suntory Music Award. Yuasa wrote a wide range of compositions, including orchestral, choral and chamber music, music for theatre, and intermedia, electronic and computer music. His style has been described as "consistent explorations of a distinctive, maverick yet elegant voice" that has elements of twelve tone, impressionism, romantic, and traditional classical composition. As a guest composer and lecturer, he contributed to the Festival of the Arts of This Century in Hawaii (1970), New Music Concerts in Toronto (1980), Asian Composers League in Hong Kong (1981), concert tour for Contemporary Music Network by British Arts Council (1981), Asia Pacific Festival in New Zealand (1984), Composers Workshop in Amsterdam (1984), Darmstadt Summer Course for Contemporary Music (1988), Lerchenborg Music Tage (1986, 1988), the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo (1990), and Music of Japan Today: Tradition and Innovation (Hamilton College, NY - 1992).

Yuasa died from pneumonia on 21 July 2024, at the age of 94.

His works have been commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Saarland Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Canada Council, Suntory Music Foundation, IRCAM and National Endowment for the Arts of the U.S.A.