photo: Yuhka Miura

2001 The Japan Foundation Special Prize

President, Artistic Director of Music From Japan, Inc.

MIURA Naoyuki

[Japan / U.S.A]

On the 50th Anniversary of the Japan Foundation Awards

My sincere congratulations on the 50th anniversary of the Japan Foundation Awards. It is a real honor to send a message on such an occasion.

I was awarded the Japan Foundation Special Prize in 2001 for my work with Music From Japan (MFJ). MFJ has received support from the Japan Foundation since our launch in 1975, enabling us to continue our projects today. I am truly grateful for the long years of sustained support.

As part of our 20th anniversary celebration in Spring 1995, MFJ held a Japanese music tour of five cities in Brazil; in Fall 1999, we began our 25th anniversary season with a Japanese music concert tour in central Asia. Both tours were Japan Foundation sponsored projects.

From 2016-2020, our Japan-US music exchange symposium, a part of our Artist Residency program, was hosted by the Japan Foundation, New York. Commissioned composers and musicologists from Japan were brought together with American composers and members of the Music Critics Association of North America for an exchange of information, opinions, and artistic ideas. As an extension of this program, MFJ invited 10 music critics and 2 composers from the US and Canada in Summer 2018 for a project called “Japan-US-Canada Encounters in Music,” offering participants an opportunity to experience Japanese music and traditional culture on-site, in Japan. Works by the two participating composers received Japanese premieres by Tokyo Sinfonietta within their regular programming and there was an accompanying lecture on contemporary North American music by one of the critics.

Other highlights have included performances of Mayuzumi Toshiro’s opera Kinkakuji, based on the novel by Mishima Yukio, at Lincoln Center to celebrate our 20th anniversary; it was performed four times with an all-American cast in NYC Opera’s Fall 1995 season. For our 35th anniversary, we produced a tour of Reigakusha, led by Shiba Sukeyasu, to Carnegie’s Zankel Hall, the Kennedy Center, and other venues. And for our 40th anniversary, we commissioned an American composer for a trio featuring sho, pipa, and komungo for a Japan-China-Korea music festival which traveled to New York, Washington DC, Fukushima City, and Tokyo.

While MFJ is truly a small organization, we have continued our project to introduce Japanese music culture from New York to the world since 1975. To date, we have given world-premiere performances of commissioned pieces by 97 Japanese composers, and we look forward to celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2025.

As I send this message of congratulations, I hope that the Japan Foundation will continue its vital activities, including the Japan Foundation Awards, to encourage international exchange with the world of Japanese culture.

MIURA Naoyuki
President
Music From Japan

(Original text in Japanese)

Mr. Naoyuki Miura (Japan) - The Japan Foundation Awards / Special Prizes (2001)