Kotoka Suzuki
Kotoka Suzuki
Associate Professor and Program Director
Program
Biography
Kotoka Suzuki is a Japanese-born composer and sound artist. Her work frequently investigates the relationship between visual elements and sound, often crossing into theater. Her compositions reflect on life, breath and nature, proposing sound as a physical form manipulated through the sculptural practice of composition. Inspired by the synthesis of technology and music, her work is written for a wide range of mediums, including acoustic instruments, electronics, video, dance, and multimedia, such as spatially interactive audio-visual work for both concert and installation settings. They are at times produced in collaboration with artists and scholars from other disciplines.
Suzuki’s work has been featured internationally by performers such as Arditti String Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, Pacifica Quartet, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Continuum, and Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra (Germany). Her work has been presented at numerous venues and broadcasters such as Deutschland Radio, BBC Radio3, Ultraschall (Germany), ISCM World Music Days, The Stone, ZKM Media Museum (Germany), and Music at the Anthology (MATA).
She has taught at the University of Chicago and Arizona State University and is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough with a graduate appointment in the Faculty of Music on the St. George campus. Her work is published by Edition RZ, EMF Media, IMEB records and Signpost Music. She has been an associate composer at the Canadian Music Centre since 2001.
Constraint Obstacle Studies
Courtesy of Follow My Score - incipitsify
Performers: Aiyun Huang, Austin Lamarche, Britton Rene Collins, Chung Ling Lo, David Schotzko, Haruka Fuji,
Michael Murphy, Michelle Colton, Nikki Joshi, Rick Sacks, Ryan Scott & Zuri Wells.
Orbit
Performers:
Soprano Sax / Jarred Waters & Matt Fox
Alto Sax / Nathan Salazar & Tanner Bayles
Tenor Sax / Patrick Feher & Chris Sacco
Baritone Sax / Kirsten Zelenak & Bonson Lee
Director / Christopher Creviston
Director of Video / Daniel Dickson
Post-Production / Dan Shannon-Spence
In Praise of Shadows
Courtesy of ISCM World New Music Days 2017. Performed by Vancouver Electronic Ensemble.
Editor / monteur - Mike Southworth, Collide Entertainment Producer / productrice - Joanna Dundas
Camera Operators / cadreurs – Doug Fury, Mike Southworth Sound Engineer / ingénieur du son – Andy Smith
Education
Kotoka Suzuki received her B.M. in composition from Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and a D.M.A. in composition at Stanford University, where she studied with Jonathan Harvey. Additional professional training include IRCAM Composition Summer Workshop, June in Buffalo, Domaine Forget with York Höller, and Voix Nouvelles Academy at Fondation Royaumont with Brian Ferneyhough and Franco Donatoni.
Affiliations
Canadian Music Centre
ASCAP
Teaching Interests
Music Composition. Audio Technology, Experimental Music, Sound & visual, Electroacoustic Music
Research Interests
Sound & Spatialization, Music & Technology, Electroacoustic Music, Music & Theatre, Sound Art
Awards & Grants
DAAD Berlin Artists in Residence (Germany), The Bourges First Prize in Multimedia (France), First Prize in the International Electro-Acoustic Musica Nova Competition (Czech Republic), New Music USA Grant, George A and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Fellowship among other awards. Residencies include MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Djerassi, Ucross and the Center for Arts and Media (ZKM).
Exhibitions
Kotoka Suzuki. Automata | Mechanical Garden. Group exhibition. February 9 – August 4, 2013.
Center for Art and Media ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany), https://zkm.de/en/publication/move-onasia
Performances
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Orison
Commissioned by 21C Music Festival, Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto
July 7, 2022.
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Furusato: Home of the Heart
Commissioned by CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra
October 1&2, 2021.
Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus (Cleveland, OH / US)
Yoogin Jang, violin / Masumi Per Rostad, viola / Mimi Hwang, violoncello
Image credit: screen image from the video above that was produced by CityMusic Cleveland
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Crossbeams
March 30, 2021
Unerhörte Musik
BKA Theatre, Berlin, Germany
Commissioned by Trio Radial for Clarinet, Horn & Violoncello
Trio Radial
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Minyo
July 9, 2019
Rush Hour Concerts
St. James Cathedral, Chicago, IL
Spektral Quartet
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In Praise of Shadows
Commissioned by the Contemporary Music Festival, Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ / US)
November 3, 2017
ISCM World Music Days Festival (Vancouver)
Vancouver Electronic Ensemble
Image credit: took a screen image from the video above that was produced by ISCM World Music Days
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Projects
Commissioned & Premiered by Cheryl Duvall
Blue, Rising (2019) 8:30
piano and transducers
Premiered by Kotoka Suzuki
Shimmer, Tree | In Memoriam Jonathan Harvey (2014) 15:00
Piano Solo and electronics (fixed media)