Ko Matsushita
Composer and conductor born and raised in Tokyo, 1962. Matsushita is currently the conductor and artistic director of 13 choirs, which are often invited to perform in Japan, Europe, America, Canada, and Asia. They have also achieved excellent showings in the choral circuit and won awards in international competitions.
A prolific composer and arranger, Matsushita’s works are performed around the world. His compositions vary widely, ranging from works based on traditional Japanese music, Masses, motets, to etudes for choirs.
His works are published in Japan by Edition KAWAI, Pana Musica, Ongaku no tomo sha Corp., Edition ICOT, and overseas by Carus-Verlag Stuttgart (Germany), SULASOL Helsinki (Finland), among others.
Besides conducting and composing, he is also an active workshop clinician and lecturer both within and outside Japan. Especially, he has been adjudicating at many international choral competitions and composition competitions around the world.<br>In 2005, he was awarded the“Robert Edler Prize for Choral Music” in recognition of his outstanding achievements worldwide in conducting, composing, performance, and education within the field of choral music.
His choir The Metropolitan Chorus of Tokyo and he was invited to the National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA as a guest choir and a panelist for Composer’s speak out, moreover as a lecturer for a reading session in February 2015.<br>Also, he was invited to Bach Academy Stuttgart as a lecturer for the workshop about his works in March 2016, at the same time his new work “De profundis clamavi” was performed by KammerChor Saarbrückn as a world premiere in Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart.
He was a member of the artistic committee of the 11th World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona 2017, and his work “Salva me” was performed by KammerChor Saarbrückn as a world premiere in there.
In Taipei, Taiwan his work “Te Deum” for 4 groups male voices, Organ, String quartet, and percussions were performed as a world premiere by International professional groups in 2017.
In 2019, he gave a keynote speech at the International Kodály Symposium (Kuching, Malaysia).
In 2022, He was invited as the professor of the Conducting masterclass in Marktoberdorf, Germany.
In 2022, He was invited as the professor of the Conducting masterclass in Marktoberdorf, Germany.
He is currently the CEO of the International Choral Organization of Tokyo, the Artistic Director of the Karuizawa International Choral Festival and the Tokyo International Choir Competition, a member of the Founding Directors of the Asian Choral Association, an honorary member of Associazione Nazionale Direttori di Coro Italiani, a member of the Interkurtur World Choir Council, a board member of the Tokyo Choral Association. Furthermore, he is a member of Japan Composers & Arrangers Association.
