Shuko Mizuno was a Japanese prefecture in Tokushima. He was born February 24, 1934. In 1958, he began his musical studies at Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku (Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music). He completed his studies in 1963 with a master’s in music. Mizuno was a keen student of musical improvisation from the very beginning of his university education. He primarily focused on jazz elements that are popular in Western music. Mizuno was encouraged by Shibata, Hasegawa and his compositions embrace improvisational techniques. He co-founded the university’s first improvisational group while at university. Mizuno formed crucial relationships with fellow students at Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music. These relationships culminated in groundbreaking musical experimentation. Mizuno, Kosugi spent many hours playing cello and violin. The avant-garde musical group Group Ongaku was formed when Tone joined them on the alto saxophone. Group Ongaku was rounded out by Chieko Shiomi (a female singer and pianist) and several other improvisational contemporaries. The experimental partnership produced many notable recordings including “Automatism,” Object, and “Metaplasm 9-15.” According to Julian Cope, their willingness to challenge the boundaries of Japanese musical composition earned them a place in Japanese music history as “essential” to the fabric of mid-20th-century Japanese music. After completing his studies, he returned to Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music to serve as a lecturer. He was then supported generously in America by the Rockefeller Foundation, where he studied improvisational music. Mizuno spent time in New York City and San Francisco, where he was able to take advantage of Western musical advances in jazz and musical theater and rock and roll. He then returned to Japan to lecture at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music. Then, Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) asked him to create an opera based on Kyoka Izumi’s 19th-century gothic novel “Tenshu Monogatari”/ “The Tale of Himeji castle”. Mizuno transformed the tragic love story between a princess, and her forbidden lover, into an opera that combines traditional musical elements (orchestral composition and Japanese folk songs) with modern elements of Western rock and jazz. Mizuno began a prolific career in Japan with this compositional feat. His career boasts an impressive array of musical composition. These genres range from music for modern dancing to orchestral works. There are over 100 pieces in his discography, most of which fall under instrumental chamber music, choral pieces, and percussion ensemble pieces. Mizuno, who has been writing music since his first year at Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, has accumulated over 100 pieces. His discography also shows his remarkable ability to freely move between genres. Mizuno, for example, wrote operas in the 70s, 80s and 90s. He not only tackled the complexity of opera but also created electronic improvisations and orchestral symphonies. He also wrote school and cultural songs and music for radio and television. His production also reveals his development as a composer. Although his orchestral and instrumental pieces span every decade, his jazz and electronic compositions are centered in the 60s and 1970s. The 80s pieces are a combination of choral work as well as percussion ensemble pieces. Mizuno was willing to adapt to the new musical demands of television and film. He wrote music for the 1995 Academy Award Winner, “On Golden Pond”. Mizuno’s elaborate and beautiful classical music is a well-known feature in Japan. Hiroshi Oga (General Director of Japan Opera Association, and Managing Director, Japan Opera Foundation) was asked what a non-Japanese opera fan should know about Japanese opera. He cited Shuko Mizano’s “Tenshu Monogatari”, as the most representative example of Japanese opera. The first of Mizuno’s four-part orchestral masterpiece, Symphonic Metamorphose, was completed in 1978. The final part was completed in 1987. It took Mizuno more than a decade to complete his four-part orchestral masterpiece, Symphonic Metamorphose. The final part was completed in 1987. Multiple commissions have been given to him by the Japan Opera Foundation for his proclivity in improvisational experimentation. His instrumental pieces are regularly performed at the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra’s concerts. Mizuno is an integral part of Japan’s contribution to improvisational music. He is also a member of Japan Federation of Composers, Inc. Shuko Mizuno has been praised for his work over the past fifty years, which demonstrates that he is one of Japan’s most important 20th-century composers. From www.shukomizuno.net
