Akira Nishimura (西村 朗) was a Japanese composer from Osaka.

Biography

Nishimura studied composition and musical theory on a graduate course at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He also studied Asian traditional music, religion, aesthetics, cosmology and the heterophonic concepts, all of which had a lasting influence on his music. Nishimura won several national and international awards, including the 36th Suntory Music Award (2004), and was commissioned by many overseas music festivals. His style consistently relied on a modal sense. When Heterophony for String Quartet was performed for the first time, he felt strongly that the tone selection at the beginning of the piece was strange, so much so that he immediately rewrote it into a modal version. Along with Joe Kondo, Nishimura has a wealth of recordings of his own works, but Nishimura also has many important works that are not included in his discography, such as Guren and From the Edge of Manra. In his later years, he wrote new works for the world of wind instruments. Nishimura was the judge at the 2007 Tōru Takemitsu composition award. Akira Nishimura died from jaw cancer on 7 September 2023, one day short of his 70th birthday.

Works

Operas

Works with orchestra

Chamber works

Piano works

Vocal works

Other activities