Yuji Takahash - Bach's Art of the Fugue

                Bach's Art of the Fugue

   The Japanese pianist and composer, Yuji Takahashi (brother of the innovative pianist Aki Takahashi), studied composition with Minao Shibata and Roh Ogura, and piano with Hiroshi Ito at the Toho School of Music from 1954 to 1958. In 1961, he made a sensational debut at a modern music festival sponsored by the Nippon Broadcasting Company, substituting at the last minute for the regularly scheduled soloist. This marked his emergence as a leading exponent of new piano music. The start of his career as a composer can be traced to 1962 and a piece for electronics and twelve instruments. At about the same time, along with fellow composers Toshi Ichiyanagi and Kenji Kobayashi, he organized an ensemble for new music, the New Directions group.

    Sponsored by the Ford Foundation, Yuji Takahashi lived in Berlin from 1963 to 1965, where he studied with Iannis Xenakis. In 1966, supported by a grant from the J. D. Rockefeller III. Fund, he came to New York to study computer music and to attend the summer courses at the Berkshire Music Center at Tangleood from 1966 to 1968. In New York he composed music using computers, and was subsequently a highly visible and influential participant in new music activities in the USA, with appearances at the Berkshire Music Center, the Ravinia Music Festival, the Stratford (Ontario) Festival and The Center for the Creative and Performing Arts at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Read more...

Takahashi Essay (Thomas Schultz)
Takahashi,Yuji - Composer, Pianist (Official Website)
Bagatellen: Yuji Takahashi

Yuji Takahashi - Biography (AMG)
Yuji Takahashi (Wikipedia)