Miya Masaoka - composer, sound artist, musician

Solo Exhibition: Refuge in the Vegetal World; Miya Masaoka

Solo Exhibition: California College of the Arts, Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art

The Masses and Dirty Sounds/Sounds Dirty: Dirt, plants, computer, human interaction, sound
Curated by Diego Villalobos.
February 16 – March 24 2024
360 Kansas St, San Francisco, CA 94103
https://wattis.org/calendar/february-16-24-2024

The Lab: Duo concert: Miya Masaoka & Hans Tammen

February 16, 2024
Live Performance by Miya Masaoka (koto + computer, monochord) with Hans Tammen (synthesizer)
The Lab, 2948 16th St.
San Francisco, CA

Trio Brew: Reggie Workman, Gerry Hemingway, Miya Masaoka

CD Release Party: Trio Brew: Reggie Workman, Bass; Gerry Hemingway, Drums, Miya Masaoka, Koto and Monochord
Out Music Festival
February 1 2024, 8:30pm
Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave, NYC

Stanford University, CCRMA solo Concert

February 14, 2024
7:30pm – 9:00pm
Location: CCRMA Stage / CCRMA LIVE, Stanford University

Miya Masaoka will present a selection of fixed media multichannel works and a live performance.
FREE and Open to the Public.
info@ccrma.stanford.edu

Premiere: Spirals of Energy: Ghost Ensemble

Commissioned by the Ghost Ensemble for composer Miya Masaoka
Invisible Dog
51 Bergen Street
(between Smith St and Boerum Pl)
Brooklyn, NY 11201 Brooklyn

DARA String Festival 2023

DARA String Festival August 26-27
Theater Im Delphi

Bassgitarre: Farida Amadou
Cello: Zoé Cartier
Tar: Elshan Ghasimi
Bühneninstallation: Anna Kubelik
Koto & Elektronik: Miya Masaoka
Bratsche & Geige: Joanna Mattrey, Grégoire Simon
Geige & Stimme: Biliana Voutchkova

Theater im Delphi gGmbH
Gustav-Adolf-Str. 2
13086 Berlin
info@theater-im-delphi.de

Darmstadt, Germany. Open Studio Showcase: Katie Young and Olivia de Prato, Miya Masaoka

6:30PM August 16
Solo Violin and Electronics composed by Miya Masaoka, performed by Olivia de Prato
Open Studio Showcase of Katherine Young, by invitation to Olivia de Prato and Miya Masaoka
Lichtenberschule
Ludwigshöhstaße 105, Darmstadt, Germany

Monumenta Ethereal : Still images, Rome, NYC

This is a developing project in Rome, Italy…. More »

New Work for Mivos String Quartet, American Academy of Rome

Thursday, June 8, 2023. Mivos Quartet, The Horizon Leans Forward
American Academy in Rome: Open Studio
Angelo Masina 5, Rome, Italy.

San Francisco Contemporary Music Players

Thursday, May 11, 2023 San Francisco Contemporary Music Players: The Dust and the Noise for cello, violin, piano and percussion by Miya Masaoka
7:00 pm ‘How Music is Made’ Pre-Concert Talk | 8:00 pm Concert | Post-concert Party
Herbst Theatre, SF War Memorial, 401 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco
TICKETS General: $35, Student: $15 (more…)

Olivia de Prato : Solo Violin, Miller Theater

Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Olivia de Prato Solo Violin CD Pop Up Concert, World Premiere Mapping a Joyful Path for solo violin by Miya Masaoka and works with other acclaimed composers: commissioned by the New York Foundation for the Arts. Miller Theater, 2960 Broadway, New York, NY 10027 Free admission (more…)

MaertzMusik Berlin, Berliner Festspiele, Germany

Sunday, March 26, 2023 The Imaginary Decolonized Space/Place for 3 Musicians and Sine Waves/Difference Tones composed by Miya Masaoka
MaertzMusik Berliner Festispiele

Final night The Imaginary Decolonized Space/Place

Solo Contrebasse at the American Academy in Rome, Italy

Wednesday, February 1, 2023 6 pm. The Salon at the American Academy in Rome with contrabassist Dorian Jackman offering a recital of solo works by Bach, Hans Werner Henze, Stephen Scodanibbio, and Miya Masaoka on February 1, 2023. Via Angelo Masina 5, Rome, Italy

Houseplants and Extreme Weather Data Report: Warsaw, Poland

Sunday, February 5, 2023 When I was Plant installation and talk 17:00 (5pm)
Installation with Houseplants, EEG sensors, electronics, printed papers with extreme weather data, sound, human and plant interaction. Centrum Sztuki Włączającej / Teatr 21 Centrum Sztuki Włączającej / Władysława Skoczylasa 10/12, 03-465 Warszawa, Warsaw, Poland
teatr21.pl

William Parker CD Release

William Parker, Miya Masaoka and other artists. Release 2022… More »

EMPAC: Talk: The Space Imaginary in Sound and Music: New Work for Violin and Sine Waves:

Wednesday, November 7, 2022. 7pm : EMPAC premiere for violin and sine waves for the Wave Field Synthesis Array and virtuosic violinist Olivia de Prato. Talk: Multi-Dimensional Spatiality in the 15th Century and Now. On the corner of 8th Street and College Avenue / Troy, NY 12180 (more…)

BANG ON A CAN : Longplay 2022

Sunday, May 1, 2022 1:15, Robert Black, solo contrebasse, Four Moons of Pluto composed by Miya Masaoka. Mark Morris Dance Center, Brooklyn, NY
https://bangonacan.org/long-play-2022/

Governors Island, Harvestworks Residency and Commission. Building 10a, Nolan Park, Soft opening June 2022

Resonant frequencies meet parabolic surfaces made from clay of the earth, animals of the sea, and met with the activity of human toil. (more…)

OSTRAVA DAYS 2021 BANDA II: MIYA MASAOKA: THE ENERGY BURNS FROM WITHIN for orchestra

August 25-27, 7pm, 2021 OSTRAVA DAYS 2021 BANDA II: MIYA MASAOKA: THE ENERGY BURNS FROM WITHIN for orchestra, conducted by Petr Kotik. Triple Hall Karolina, Music of Today Festival, 11th Bienale, Ostrava Center for New Music, Ostrava, Czech Republic. Masaoka Talks and Meetings August 22-28
https://www.newmusicostrava.cz/en/ostrava-days/program/247-ostravska-banda-ii.html

Seeking a Sense of Somethingness (out of nothingness) TIME : SPANS FESITVAL 2021

TIME : SPANS 2021: EMPAC WAVE Field Synthesis Showcase: 3D compositions by Miya Masaoka, Nina Young, Bora Yoon, Pamela Z. Thursday August 12 to Monday August 16. The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 450 W 37th Street, NY, NY

New Noh Opera “Long Arc of Time” (postponed due to Covid)

New Noh Opera “Long Arc of Time” scheduled for Ostrava NOVO Opera Festival in the Czech Republic 2021 has unfortunately been cancelled. https://vimeo.com/520686622… More »

The Boccaccio Project “Intuit (a way to stay in this world)”

Intuit (a way to stay in this world) Library of Congress commission as part of The Boccaccio Project. For solo cello. Kathryn Bates of Del Sol, June 2020. Duration: 3 minutes. Composed by Miya Masaoka in strict quarantine in New York City 2020…. More »

When I Was A Plant v. 2 (Spanish Speaking plant, with climate data)

2019 Toronto Biennale, Main Exhibition space
November 14-December 1, 2019, curated by Myung-Sun Kim and Maiko Tanaka.
(more…)

When I Was A Plant v. 2 (Spanish Speaking plant, with climate data)

2019 Toronto Biennale, Main Exhibition space November 14-December 1, 2019, curated by Myung-Sun Kim and Maiko Tanaka. The plant is “speaking,” or expressing the voice of living things, which might otherwise be construed as silent, mute, and passive. The response of the plant and its root system in real time is a manifestation, metaphor of… More »

When I Was a Plant (for multiple plants + performers)

November 14, 2019. Artist Talk, Post Vocal Performance, Tellings, Toronto Biennial.
https://torontobiennial.org/programs/miya-masaoka-sonifying-the-plants/

I Am A Plant (response in image + sound)

Materials: philodendron, electronics, wire, video, sound, human interaction. Gutenberg Sound Art Academy, Mainz University, Germany, August, 2019. (more…)

Singing River So To Speak*

July 6, 2019
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canada
Ensemble Evolution; Commissioned work, conducted by Steve Schick; flute, clarinet, bassoon, piano, percussion, violin, viola, cello.
*based on the poem by Maya Angelou, “On The Pulse of Morning”

Listen Ahead traffic signs

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Solar Wind

Joelle Leandre (contrabasse), Rober Dick (flutes) and Miya Masaoka (koto) TRIO… More »

Listen Ahead: Ear Hut

Listen Ahead consists of a series of traffic signs, and the Ear Hut, a small structure that is designed to privilege the ear over the eye, or the sense of listening over sight. (more…)

O Plant!

detail. Houseplant, electronics, wire, wood. sound… More »

Partial Eclipse for String Quartet (workshop version)

Stephanie Griffin vla, Alex Shozaki Vln, Rachell Wong Vln, Michael Haas, Cello Roulette, NY… More »

Transient Memories

Fridman Gallery, 2018 Materials: Glass bottles, electronics, sound… More »

O Plant!

New work installation with plants and human interaction, Temple Contemporary, Tyler School of Art, Fall, 2018… More »

Spectacle Exotic – A film short by Miya Masaoka

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Adventures of the Solitary Bee

The Adventures of the Solitary Bee is a quasi documentary by Miya Masaoka. The work was part of a constellation of works in the mid to late nineties, where the artist used social insects noted for their social behavior and their natural insect More »

MZM Trio: Myra Melford, Zeena Parkins, Miya Masaoka

Ten improvised pieces from three of the most innovative instrumentalists at work today. More »

Hiko Hiko alternative persona

Hiko Hiko is a time traveler, a shamanistic figure of a non specific gender and non specific race. They sometimes wear kimono rags and clothes embedded with percussion and tin cans trailing behind. Hiko Hiko is said to journey to distant planets, to ancient Japan, to contemporary Harlem, and is known to make unannounced appearances… More »

Tilt

20th Anniversary of Other Minds Festival…. More »

Heliotropism for Large Ensemble

Performed at New Music On the Point, Vermont; Zack Di Lello, trumpet, Jessie Nucho, flute, Brian Stuligross, violin, Cindy Lan, viola, Louise King, Cello, Will Yager, contrabass, Cole Blouin, guitar, Alec Whiting, bowed and fingered koto

The Long Arc of Time

The Long Arc of Time, a new intermedia Noh opera composed, produced and directed by Miya Masaoka; poet Tracie Morris was commissioned to write the story and libretto Grey: A Tale of Time;

The Movement of Things

City Halls, Glasgow, Scotland, More »

While I Was Walking, I Heard A Sound…

Conducted by Robert Geary. Performed by Volti, Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, The San Francisco Chorale Society, and soloists. Commissioned by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on the occasion of their 10th anniversary…. More »

Network Of Energy

Composed by Miya Masaoka, performed by Masaoka, koto, Mark Dresser, Bass, Stephanie Richards, Trumpet, Madison Greenstone, clr, Kjell Nordeson, Percussion, Sean Dowgray, Percussion, Andrew Drury, Percussion. Performed at the San Diego Art Museum, November, 2015 More »

Slivering

The RPI Orchestra (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) conducted by Nicolas de Masion; recording and reading of Slivering, 2018… More »

Vaginated Chairs

MoMA PS1, April 1, 2018 In “Vaginated Chairs”- the vagina is a site for perception, for new ways of listening and perceiving, and, as Masaoka argues, is the Third Ear. Come sit on our humming and vibrating chairs, each tuned to a specific frequency and made into a kind of loud speaker. Some participants will… More »

Vaginated Chairs, Kunstmuseum Bonn

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A Line Becomes A Circle, a new chamber Noh opera

A new chamber opera composed by Miya Masaoka and performed by Makiko Sakurai (Shomyo), Ann Moss (Soprano), Chris Nappi (Percussion), Miya Masaoka (Koto) Roulette, 2017 More »

A Long Way To F#

A Long Way to F# is a physical metaphor for over lives that at times resemble noise, chaos and undifferentiated existence, but that eventually focus onto a sharp moment of clarity. There will also be a 12 minute version available for listeners during certain hours each day…. More »

Four Moons of Pluto for 1 to 5 contrebasse players

For double bass, from 1 to 5 players. James Ilgenfritz. First performance, The Stone, 2015. James has performed this piece many times all over the world. It was recorded on Innova Records (Triangle of Resistance) and also Infrequent Seams (Origami Cosmos) by James Ilgenfritz. A 5 bass player configuration was first performed at New Music… More »

Channeling Scelsi: with Italian channeler Carlo Costa.

Channeling Scelsi: with Italian channeler Carlo Costa.
This new work is an interpretation of Scelsi’s 1965 composition Ygghur originally written for cello. Performed on two 13 string kotos by Akiko Sasaki and Miya Masaoka.

Sound Corridors at the Knockdown Center

Multi-channel installation in cavernous space in Brooklyn, New York…. More »

Other Mountain

2′ Excerpt: Other Mountain Performed by the La Jolla Symphony. A reading sponsored by Earshot and the Center for Jazz Studies, La Jolla Symphony, San Diego. Conducted by Steven Schick. Other Mountain is inspired from an experience in 2011 near a lake on the other side of Fukushima,Japan, the location of the 2011 tsunami and… More »

The Dust and the Noise

piano, percussion, violin, cello, conducted by Richard Carrick… More »

The Chattering of Life

for string quartet and improvising trio 5′ excerpt The Chattering of Life… More »

Survival

Jennifer Choi, vln, Esther Noh, vln, David Wallace, vla, Alex Waterman, cello. Performed at Roulette ‘Survival excerpt 5′… More »

The Long Road

A piece in the evening – length work Triangle of Resistance string quartet, percussion, koto, analog modular synthesis… More »

A Crack in Your Thoughts

Koto, Laser Koto and electronics, The Walk Art Center Gallery, 2012 A Crack In Your Thoughts Excerpt… More »

Warsaw

Warsaw, excerpt gestures, violin, cello, 2 vocalists, video projections, koto, violin, cello, 2 vocalists… More »

Stemming

Stemming for 1-4 players bows, string instrument, processing … More »

Swimming Through Madness

Duo for two 13 string kotos. With Akiko Sasaki, Miya Masaoka, The Stone and Roulette… More »

Jagged Pyramid

Scored for open instrumentation… More »

Movement Research

A commission working with Chinese Checkers, Movement Research and Steve Paxton. Performed at Judson Church, New York City… More »

Plants Derail Model Train

The culture of the Cold War spawned many small laboratories with independent researchers and offshoot government agencies. Free-lance engineers and ESP (extra sensory perception) investigators conducted experiments with plants and tried to use plants’ unique electrical response in espionage, long distance communication, including ways of apprehending terrorists by using plants to sense stress levels of… More »

LED Kimono Project

Custom designed and built responsive wearable electronics, electronics, reader, dancer. See LED KIMONO project website. LED KIMONO Excerpt LED responds movement, sound. Miya Masaoka, koto and dress design, Mariko Drew, Dance, Arnold Davidson, reader. Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago…. More »

Off A Craggy Cliff

For two telematic ensembles, of open, unspecified instrumentation. Performed by Rennsselaer Polytecnic Ensemble (RPI) led by Pauline Oliveros and Stanford University Ensemble led by Chris Chaffe…. More »

The Butterfly’s Logic

4 percussionists, amplified metal percussion… More »

Balls

piano, Disclavier, ping-pong balls. Commissioned by Kathleen Supove, Flea Theater, New York City… More »

Pieces For Plants (performance and installation)

Early Version at Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland, CA. An Interactive installation for Philodendrom, electrodes, computer… More »

Things in an Open Field

Things in An Open Field Laser Koto and electronics. Redcat Theater, Los Angeles, 2006… More »

Chironomy

5 players in 2 groups. clarinet, vocalist, synthesizer in group 1, 2 computers in Group 2, streaming audio and projected video of childrens’ hands gesturing… More »

KOTO

Solo 21 String Koto and tape written for Alonzo King and Lines. Premiered at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco More »

Inner Koto

Inner Koto: Multi-channel work commissioned by Engine 27 and Harvestworks…. More »

For Birds, Planes and Cello

cello, field recording (tape)… More »

Koto In the Sky

Laser Beams reach across the alley way in San Francisco, with participants waving broomsticks on on fire escapes to trigger sounds…. More »

What is the Sound of Naked (Asian) Men?

8 musicians and streaming brain wave data, video projection, performed by SF Sound ensemble More »

The Bee Projects (1996-2001)

Cell Space, San Francisco Electronic Music Festival 2000 8 channel (a-dat) Recorded bee sounds spatialized with early software (C sound), speakers in a large circle. (to be linked in Review section) Review: Classical Voice: CONTEMPORARY MUSIC REVIEW Electronic Music, A Blast, A Vision May 5, 2000 By Thomas Goss Give some people an amp, and they can’t… More »

It Creeps Along

Bang on a Can Allstars: Clarinet, cello, guitar, percussion, bass, piano, Laser Koto (gestural controller) People’s Commissioning Fund … More »

Thinking Sound

There were many version of this piece. Brain data output was sonified and processed with signal processing. IBVA (Interactive Brain Visualization Software) developed by Masahiro Kohata. Piece composed by Miya Masaoka. (Brain output from various participants, including Saimin Li). The ensemble SFsound perfomed the piece at Yerba Buena Center Gardens…. More »

Music For Mouths

4 saxophones… More »

Dark Passages

Music composed by Miya Masaoka, Libretto by Thulani Davis, Directed by Ellen Chang. A multimedia oratorio with readers, actual activists and resistors, string quartet, Buddhist chanters, actors, projected slides, video. Ruminations on Japanese American concentration camp survivors and WW II wtih Buddhist chanters, live ensemble, video and still projections, archival footage and actors/readers. Dar Passages… More »

What Is the Difference Between Stripping and Playing the Violin?

Creative orchestra and tape…. More »

Twenty-Four Thousand Years is Forever

Chamber orchestra and tape; 2 shengs, 2 saxophones, clarinet, percussion, 2 violins, cello, bass, koto (1997). Commissioned by Asian ImprovArts, in commemoration of the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The recording of this piece is included in the CD…. More »