OTOMO Yoshihide

Musician

Born 1959 in Yokohama. Has been attracting a lot of attention around the globe with his endeavors across genres and styles, from experimental music to jazz and pop, while also being renowned for his musical contributions in the realms of cinema, TV and theater. In recent years, his focus has been on musical works and sound installations, as well as collaborations with various artists and regular citizens under the name “Ensembles,” presented in a rather unique concert style. At the same time, he continues to engage in a range of participatory projects. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, he launched a project in the Fukushima area, where he spent his teens, and in 2012, received a Ministry of Education's Award for Fine Arts for his work on the “Project FUKUSHIMA!” His numerous other awards include a Japan Record Award for the score for the TV program “Amachan” in 2013. Since 2014, Otomo has been devoting himself to Ensembles Asia, launched as a vehicle for establishing a network across Asia through music. He was the artistic director of the Sapporo International Art Festival 2017, and in 2019, director of the reorganized Waraji Matsuri, a popular local festival in Fukushima.