is a Japanese-American composer, conductor, and clarinetist. He is a recipient of several international prizes and honors. He currently resides in the United States. In 2018 he won a Guggenheim Fellowship and is currently the Assistant Professor of Music Composition at the University of Delaware School of Music.

Education In 2000 he entered the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific, studying composition and clarinet, graduating in 2004. Between 2005 and 2008 he did his graduate studies in music composition at Yale University. 17.03.2017 11:49:54 UTC In February 2015 he received his doctorate from Columbia University, where his principal teachers have been Fabien Lévy, Tristan Murail and Fred Lerdahl.

Awards

Fromm Commission (2018)

Guggenheim Fellowship (2018) Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship (2012) civitella.org 17.03.2017 14:35 UTC Gaudeamus International Composers Award (2011)

Onishi as a composer Onishi's music has been in part characterized by the engineering of timbres. In his 2009 work for string quartet, Culs-de-sac (en passacaille), he employs varieties of extended techniques for the string instruments. Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times said of the piece: “Who needs electronic instruments when a composer can draw such varied, eerily alluring sounds from good old string instruments?”.

Onishi's works have been commissioned by performers and organizations including Mayumi Miyata, Pacific Music Festival, Norfolk and Lucerne Festivals. His composition, Départ dans… was commissioned by Takefu International Music Festival in 2010, and became the winning piece of the Gaudeamus Prize in Music Composition in 2011.

Performance organizations, including JACK Quartet, Quatuor Diotima, Yarn/Wire, Nieuw Ensemble, Ensemble Intercontemporain, and Klangforum Wien have performed Onishi's works.

Since 2014, Onishi's works are published by Edition Gravis Verlag.

Works The following is a partial list of works.

Gz III (2019–20), for bass clarinet and bassoon Second String Quartet (2019–20) Antefenas-Studies (2018), for ensemble and electronics Vgf II (2011), for 15 players Gz, a Vuza Canon (2017), for tenor recorder and shakuhachi Envoi II (2017), for string trio Tramespace (2012–15), diptych for large ensemble Palinody (2010), for 14 players in 7 groups Départ dans... (2010), for 5 players Culs-de-sac (en passacaille) (2009, rev. 2010/18), for string quartet

Onishi as a conductor During his time at the University of Missouri School of Music in Columbia, Missouri, Onishi became an assistant conductor of the Mizzou New Music Ensemble. Previously he was an assistant conductor of the Columbia University Orchestra until 2013. He is also affiliated with New York-based percussion ensemble Iktus Percussion as a conductor of the Iktus+. 17.03.2017 14:40 UTC He has also guest conducted several ensembles, including the Wet Ink Ensemble.

References

External links Official Website Onishi's Page on Columbia Composers Interview by Radio 4, The Netherlands National Public Radio: “JACK Quartet and ICE, In Concert At (Le) Poisson Rouge” Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2011 Jury Report Onishi's Vimeo Site Onishi's Soundcloud Site