“… now offering American audiences the chance to get to know Mr. Hisaishi, and discover the weird, glamorous music he brought to [Studio] Ghibli’s masterpieces. A two-night retrospective last weekend packed Carnegie Hall with local Japanimation fans and visiting tourists, all of us eager to watch Mr. Hisaishi lead the Hollywood Film Music Orchestra and Choirs through excerpts. Projected on a large screen overhead were scenes from 'Mononoke,' 'My Neighbor Totoro,' and 'Spirited Away,'and what struck me on Friday was not just the diversity of his compositions — 'Porco Rosso' features finger snapping; 'Kiki’s Delivery Service' delivers a pizzicato flying scene to rival E.T.’s arc across the moon — but also his generosity to instrumentalists, many of whom get a chance at center stage.”
The New York Times
Joe Hisaishi was born in Nagano, Japan. He started to show his interest in minimal music when he was a student at Kunitachi College of Music, and started his career as a comtemporary music composer. Presentation of “MKWAJU” in 1981 and the release of his first album “Information” in the following year was the kickoff of his career as a solo artist. Since his debut, he has released nearly 40 solo albums, including “MinimalRhythm”(2009), “Melodyphony”(2010) and the latest solo album “MinimalRhythm 3”(2017).
Starting with “Nausicaä of the Valley of...
“It is phenomenal, the number of lives that have been impacted by Hayao Miyazaki’s work, but Miyazaki’s visuals and storytelling go hand in hand with Joe Hisaishi’s heartfelt and incredible compositions…Tonight, I witnessed Hisaishi-san at his best, conducting the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with the music that he created for the beloved Studio Ghibli animated features.”
