Early influences can be traced in Sergiu Celibidache's views on aspects of ambience and acoustic space (Athanasiadis attended Celibidache's Munich seminars in 1994), and in composers such as Christou, Feldman and Takemitsu.
He has quickly established a career as a virtuoso who possesses not only an impressive command of the classical repertoire, but has also commissioned many new works from contemporary composers, including Harrison Birtwistle, Toru Takemitsu, Hans Werner Henze, Rolf Martinsson, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Heinz Karl Gruber, Benjamin Staern, Tobias Broström and Arvo Pärt.
Casken’s music has been featured at major festivals in Europe, the US, and in Tokyo at Music Today, by invitation from Toru Takemitsu.
He has conducted the world premieres of works by composers such as Toru Takemitsu, John Casken, James MacMillan and Wolfgang Rihm.
Toru Takemitsu | Toru Yano | Tōru Takemitsu | Toru, Pakistan | Toru Okabe | Toru Kumon | Kikuchi Takemitsu | Asari-Toru |
Kakizakai has performed widely in Japan and abroad, including as shakuhachi soloist in Toru Takemitsu's November Steps with the NHK Symphony Orchestra.
Yokoyama achieved international attention for his New York City premiere performance in November 1967, of Tōru Takemitsu's composition November Steps, for shakuhachi, biwa, and orchestra, with the New York Philharmonic, under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (with biwa player Tsuruta Kinshi).
Matthias Manasi has performed recitals throughout the USA, Europe and South America, performing not only classical and romantic repertoire but also contemporary works by such composers as Bernstein, Dutilleux, Schnittke, Takemitsu, Sawai, among others.
Featured composers include Scottish-based composers including David Fennessy, Gordon McPherson, Sally Beamish and Bill Sweeney and international names such as John Adams, Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, Toru Takemitsu and James Dillon.