Ueno Ken
djmoderne@gmail.com
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The 2006-2007 Rome Prize recipient, Ken Ueno, is a composer who actively involves himself in a wide range of activities in order to evangelize for modern music. Informed by his experience as an electric guitarist and overtone singer, his music fuses the culture of Japanese underground electronic music with an awareness of European modernism. In an effort to feature inherent qualities of sound such as beatings, overtones, and artifacts of production noise, Ken’s music is often amplified and uses electronics. The dramatic discourse of his music is based on the juxtaposition of extremes: visceral energy versus contemplative repose, hyperactivity versus stillness. As DJ Moderne, he hosts and produces a weekly live half-hour public access television show devoted to introducing new music and new music composers and performers to the public at large. As a vocalist, he sings sub-tones, multiphonics and overtones. Ensembles and performers who have played Ken’s music include the Bang on a Can All-Stars, eighth blackbird, Frances-Marie Uitti, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the American Composers Orchestra (Whitaker Reading Session), the New York New Music Ensemble, the Prism Saxophone Quartet, Relâche, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Dogs of Desire, the Orkest de Ereprijs, and the So Percussion Ensemble. His music has been performed at such venues as Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hopkins Center, Spoleto USA, and at the Norfolk Music Festival, where he was guest composer/lecturer. Ken’s piece for the Hilliard Ensemble, Shiroi Ishi, continues to be featured in their repertoire, recently being performed at Queen Elizabeth Hall in England, the Vienna Konzerthaus, and aired on Italian national radio, RAI 3. Awards and grants that Ken has received include those from the American Academy in Rome, the Fromm Music Foundation (2), the Aaron Copland House, Meet the Composer (3), the Belgian-American Education Foundation, Sonic Circuits X, First Prize in the 25 “Luigi Russolo” competition, and Harvard University. Upcoming projects include a multimedia theatre work for Kim Kashkashian and Robyn Schulkowsky, which will be a companion piece to Berio’s Naturale; and a chamber orchestra work for the Netherlands Youth Orchestra to be conducted by Stefan Asbury in the summer of 2007. A former ski patrol and West Point cadet, Ken holds degrees from Berklee College of Music, Boston University, the Yale School of Music, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He is a co-founder/co-director of the Minimum Security Composers Collective and is the vocalist in the experimental improvisation group Onda. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Electronic Music Studios at the University Massachussetts Dartmouth. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor at the Berklee College of Music.
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Composed or Arranged
| Shakuhachi Compositions | |||
| Title | Kanji | Year | Alternate Title |
| Kaze no Oka | 2005 |