Japanese composer of film scores to perform here

There can hardly be any doubt that Japanese animation`s growing popularity owes a great deal to the magical world of Hayao Miyazaki. From "My Neighbor Totoro" (1988), a brilliant evocation of childhood, to the fantasy masterpiece "Spirited Away" (2001) and "Howl`s Moving Castle" (2004), the master of the modern day fairytale has attracted wide-ranging audiences to anime for the past 26 years.

Yet there is another person who cannot be overlooked when talking about Japanimation: Joe Hisaishi. Known primarily as Miyazaki`s preferred composer, Hisaishi has worked on most of the cult director`s award-winning animations including all the three mentioned films.

Also well known for his scores for the recent Korean blockbuster "Welcome to Dongmakgol" (2005), Hisaishi will come to the country on Nov. 3 for a concert at the Opera House of the Seongnam Art Center in Gyeonggi Province.

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At the concert, Hisaishi, who is often hailed as Japan`s greatest modern day composer, will lead the Korean Symphony Orchestra to present some of Miyazaki`s feature animation scores that are widely loved as much as the animations.

Born in Nagano in 1950, Hisaishi started his career as a composer of modern music when he was still a student at the Kunitachi Collage of Music. He was into minimalist music back then, and he released his first album, "Information," in 1982.

His real name is Fujisawa Mamoru, but he has taken the name "Hisaishi Joe" from the name of Quincy Jones, his favorite musician. The kanji for Hisaishi could be read as "Kuishi," which is close to the Japanese pronunciation of "Quincy."

In 1983, the composer was recommended by a record company to create the image album for "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind," which was being made into a movie. Miyazaki was so impressed with the album that he often played it during the movie production. Although the soundtrack of the film was to be composed by a different composer who was far better known than Hisaishi then, Miyazaki strongly recommended that Hisaishi should do the soundtrack as well, and the rest is history.

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He received Japan`s equivalent to an Academy Award for Best Musical Score for three years in a row from 1992 to 1994, and then again in 1999. In addition to his work in film, Hisaishi is also a gifted and prolific concert pianist and conductor with a strong individual style crafted from a relentless search for artistic perfection.



More than anyone else, the biggest fan of his music is the great director himself. "I cannot appreciate Joe enough for completing and upgrading my works with all the great music he composed," Miyazaki once said in an interview with a Japanese magazine. "Of course, I always try to find the best composer for my new work, but it`s been Joe Hisaishi almost all the time."

Last year, Hisaishi was appointed musical director of the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, which was established in 1972 by maestro Seiji Ozawa. Hisaishi, however, never forgot what he can do best.

"I`m a composer who creates music to enhance stories and the message in films," the composer said in an interview. "Every movie has its own unique tone and texture, which helps me create different music each time."

Tickets for the concert are 20,000 to 60,000 won. For more information, call (031) 729-5615.

(danlee@heraldm.com)



By Lee Yong-sung