Koji Asano

by Craig HarrisOne of the world's most imaginative composers, Koji Asano defies simple categorization. A native of Japan who now resides in Barcelona, Spain, Asano has composed tunes for dance performances, film soundtracks, and video art exhibitions. Solo pianists, guitar bands, computers, string quartets, and his own Tokyo-based group the Koji Asano Ensemble have performed his compositions. According to the San Francisco Weekly, Asano "eschews the well-worn path of familiar music making contexts for a less traveled route involving feedback, computers, and electronics." Asano has collaborated with a diverse range of musical and visual artists. In 1997, he provided accompaniment for exhibitions of sculpture and painting in Moscow, Pushkin, and Latvia. Two years later, he composed a string quartet for a presentation of Bruno Letort's Megapoles project, featuring the Smith Quartet at the Vingtième Théatre in Paris. In October 2001, a new composition was premiered by Banda Municipal de Barcelona.