Dai Fujikura is a composer based in London, UK. Born in 1977 in Osaka, Japan, Dai was fifteen when he moved to the UK and then studied under Sir. George Benjamin.
In recent years, his activities have been diverse. His opera, “A Dream of Armageddon,” based on a short story by H.G. Wells, which draws attention to the threat of totalitarianism, had its world premiere at the New National Theatre Tokyo in 2020. The opera was selected as the "Best of the Year" by numerous music magazines. In the same year, his Fourth Piano Concerto (Akiko's Piano), inspired by a piano owned by a woman who was a victim of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, had its world premiere. This was the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing and was released by Sony Music.
Following that year, “Entwine” was performed by the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and Hong Kong Sinfonietta. The Orchestre National de Bretagne and the New York Philharmonic are also scheduled to perform it in 2024.
Another recent orchestral work, “Wavering World,” was commissioned and performed by the Seattle Symphony, Pacific Philharmonia Tokyo, Musikalische Akademie des Nationaltheater-Orchesters Mannheim, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Unique works such as “Metamorphosis of a Living Room,” a music theatre piece created in collaboration with theatre director Toshiki Okada, was commissioned and staged by Wiener Festwochen. This piece was later performed in Hanover and Amsterdam, and it is planned to be staged in Japan. Additionally, “Green Tea Concerto” for flauto traverso and baroque ensemble was commissioned by the B’Rock Orchestra, and “Comic Breath” was commissioned by the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the New World Symphony Orchestra.
Opera Works: Dai has presented three operas so far.
In 2020, his third opera, “A Dream of Armageddon,” with a libretto by Harry Ross, premiered at the New National Theatre Tokyo.
In 2018, his second opera, “The Gold-Bug,” for a young audience, was commissioned by Theatre Basel. It was based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story, with a libretto by Hannah Dübgen. The French version premiered in 2020.
In 2015, his first opera, “SOLARIS,” with a libretto by Saburo Teshigawara, was co-commissioned by the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Opéra de Lausanne, and the Opéra de Lille. It had its world premiere at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and has since gained international recognition. Numerous new productions were created after its premiere, including those by Augsburg Theatre and Neue Oper Wien, Austria. The concert version was also performed at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre.
Collaboration Beyond Genre and Artists: Dai collaborates with artists from various music genres, including experimental pop, jazz, and improvisation. He co-composed "peripheral movement" with Ryuichi Sakamoto. It premiered at Harajuku Hall. He has also worked with David Sylvian on Sylvian’s album “Died in the Wool” and with Jan Bang, Nils Petter Molvær, Arve Henriksen, Erik Honoré, Eivind Aarset, and Sidsel Endresen, with their collaborative albums released by Jazzland Recordings. The dance piece “Sounding Seven Senses” was created in collaboration with dancer Koichi Omae.
Mitsubachi to Enrai (LISTEN TO THE UNIVERSE): Dai was invited to compose an original piece, “Spring and Asura,” for solo piano for the 2019 Japanese film “Mitsubachi to Enrai” (LISTEN TO THE UNIVERSE), a story about a piano competition. The film was a huge box office hit in Japan. Dai’s work, “Spring and Asura,” exists in four different versions and is an integral part of the narrative around which the story revolves.
Works for Japanese Traditional Instruments and European Period Instruments: In recent years, Dai has received numerous commissions for Japanese musical instruments and European period instruments, including shamisen, koto, shakuhachi, biwa, harpsichord, fortepiano, flauto traverso, and natural horn. He has also composed works for the Chinese instrument sheng and the Korean instruments taegeum and haegeum.
As Producer and Curator: Since 2017, Dai has been the Artistic Director of the Born Creative Festival at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre. He also curated concerts at La Folle Journée au Japon in 2016 and 2019. Since 2015, Dai has led composition classes for children aged 4 to 14 in Soma, Fukushima, as part of El Sistema Japan, sponsored by Louis Vuitton Japan. This program is unique because Dai invites many musicians from around the world. These musicians demonstrate the possibilities of the instruments that they play. Dai creates an environment where the children can communicate with these musicians to write original compositions in whatever style they want. In this class, the children can hear their own compositions played by these professional musicians on the spot.
Recordings/Publications: Over ten albums have been released on NMC, Commmons, KAIROS, Stradivarius, Sony Music, and Dai’s own record label, Minabel Records. His works are published by Ricordi Berlin.
Style: Dai often composes in direct communication with the musicians for whom he writes his works. This is usually conducted through online chatting and by sending fragments of the score to musicians. He then requests them to record themselves on their smartphones and to send them back to him for feedback.
Prizes: Dai was the youngest composer to ever win the Serocki International Composers Competition, in 1998. Since then, he has received many other prizes, including the Ivor Novello and Royal Philharmonic Society Awards, the Internationaler Wiener Composition Prize, the Paul Hindemith Prize, the 19th Akutagawa Composition Award, the Silver Lion from the Venice Biennale, and the WIRED Audi Innovation Award.