Kuwabara, Yu International Festival of Contemporary Music Warsaw Autumn

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Japanese composer born in 1984. A winner of the 31st Yasushi Akutagawa Suntory Award for Music Composition, she has received commissions from leading festivals, foundations, and ensembles such as Lucerne Festival, Acht Brücken, ZeitRäume Basel, Mizzou International Composers Festival, International Ensemble Modern Academy, National Theatre of Japan, Suntory Foundation of Arts, NHK-FM, and I&I Foundation. Her works have been performed at numerous international festivals such as the Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, Biennale für Aktuelle Musik in Frankfurt, Ultraschall Berlin, Bregenz Festival, Tectonics Glasgow, Musica, Mostra Sonora Sueca, Expo Milano 2015, Music From Japan, Tongyeong International Music Festival, Takefu International Music Festival, as well as in in many other concerts around the world with various ensembles and performers: Enno Poppe and Ensemble Modern, Internationale Ensemble Modern Akademie, Trio Accanto, soloists from Ensemble InterContemporain, Talea Ensemble, Klangforum Wien, Peter Burwik and XX. Jahrhundert, Alan Pierson and Alarm Will Sound, Ensemble Mosaik, Trio Abstrakt, and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. 

In 2024, her first portrait album was released from Kairos. Her scores are published by Edition Gravis and Edition Wunn. She is a member of Awai-Za, a chamber collective mixed with new music and Japanese Edo culture. She is a lecturer at Kunitachi College of Music and Senzoku Gakuen College of Music. In 2024, her first portrait album was released from Kairos. Her scores are published by Edition Gravis and Edition Wunn. She is a member of Awai-Za, a chamber collective mixed with new music and Japanese Edo culture. She is a lecturer at Kunitachi College of Music and Senzoku Gakuen College of Music. 

Selected works: Doll-Blind for tenor recorder and accordion (2007), Spiral Mandala (Wind Chant and Night Chant) for shōmyō, Japanese Buddhist chant (2015), Three Voices for violin, viola and cello (2016), Shadowless for violin and eight musicians (2017), Tsuki no Kōgon for shōmyō (2017), Ōmagatoki no Uta for cello (2014/2017–18), In Between for alto saxophone, percussion and piano (2018), figure and ground, image and margin, obverse and reverse for shamisen and seven musicians (2018), Five Images-In Nomine for six musicians (2018–19), Nokorigaku for piano (2019), Time Abyss for 17 musicians in two groups (2019–20), Toward the Brink of Water or the Verge of Dusk na violę d’amore (2020), Bai and Dharani for violin (2020–21), White Winds, Blue Nights for biwa (with voice for one performer) and orchestra (2021), Four Seasons of the Five Saints: Dōgen, Saigyō, Ippen, Myōe, and Ryōkan for shōmyō by four priests, percussion, ryūteki, hichiriki, shō, shakuhachi, koto, shamisen, violin and cello (2021), The Six Hours Cycle, solo works for bassoon, viola and tenor saxophone (2022–23), Falling Leaves Moon Steps for shakuhachi, shamisen and orchestra (2023), Hamlet Ichi-dan for baritone (2023–24).