Discipline: Music Composition

Akemi Naito

Discipline: Music Composition
Region: New York, NY
MacDowell Fellowships: 2001
More: www.akeminaito.com
Akemi Naito began studying piano at the age of five and composition at the age of 14. In 1978, she received B.A. in music composition from the University Division at the Toho Gakuen School of Music and a graduate degree from the same university in 1980, and was a member of the school’s faculty from 1980 until 1991. She was awarded the Takei Prize in 1982 and a finalist for the Music Today Composition Award in 1982 and 1988. Following her earlier activity as a composer in Tokyo, she received a grant from the Asian Cultural Council that enabled her to come to New York City in 1991. She has since established herself as a New York-based composer. Ms. Naito’s works have been featured in music festivals around the world such as Clásicos en Verano in Madrid, Fribourg International Festival of Sacred Music, Music Festival Valendas in Switzerland, Mersin International Music Festival in Turkey and the International Bayan Festival in Moscow. In February 2012, Naito appeared on WJFF Monday Afternoon Classics, a two-hour radio program, which focused on her music by interview and aired six works from her CDs. In November 2013, she served as a jury member at the 12th Composition Competition of the Fribourg International Festival of Sacred Music in Switzerland. Her works have been published by HoneyRock, AUGEMUS and SONIC ARTS.

Studios

MacDowell

Akemi Naito worked in the MacDowell studio.

Built in 1912, Pine Studio was renamed MacDowell Studio in 1943 in recognition of support from a group of Edward MacDowell’s music students. It was built as a composers’ studio and the stuccoed walls were intended to be soundproof. Like many of the studios on property, MacDowell was winterized in the 1950s when the program began welcoming…

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