Akira Nishimura

About

Profoundly acclaimed composer who composed over 100 instrumental, choral, and orchestral works, including "Hot Rain in August" and "Poem of Water." He was also awarded dozens of individual accolades, including the 1974 Grand Prix Elizabeth International Music Convention Award and the 1993 Japan Contemporary Arts Promotion Prize.

Before Fame

He graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he studied musical composition and theory. He also studied traditional Asian music, religion, aesthetics, cosmology, and heterophonic concepts. 

Trivia

He was a professor of music composition at the Tokyo College of Music. He also served as judge at the 2007 Toru Takemitsu Composition Awards.

Family Life

He succumbed to a long battle with jaw cancer in 2023. He passed away one day before his 70th birthday. 

Associated With

He was chosen to be a judge at the Toru Takemitsu Composition Awards by the Foundation's Advisor Committee, which included composer Sir Simon Rattle.