Kenji Sakai

Kenji Sakai
Period: 2015-2016
Profession: Composer Kenji Sakai was born in Osaka in 1977. A Japanese citizen, he studied in Japan before moving to Europe, where he continued his studies at the Paris Conservatory and at the IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique). His career quickly developed internationally with creations performed by the Orchestre National de Lyon, National Orchestra of Belgium, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra as well as the Ensemble Intercontemporain. Kenji Sakai has been invited to numerous musical festivals such as Musica Strasbourg, Agora Paris, Musica Nova Helsinki, the Biennial Musiques en Scène at Lyon, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the KKL Lucerne, the TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, Suntory Hall Tokyo and the Tokyo Opera City. He has won several international awards, including Toru Takemitsu Composition Award in 2009, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne Award in 2011 and Queen Elisabeth International Grand Prix in 2012. Kenji Sakai was decorated by the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs of Japan in July 2012 and was a member of the Academy of France in Madrid – Casa de Velázquez in 2012-2013. Kenji Sakai’s project at Villa Medici will be devoted to Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613) and the study of his reference language. His research will be divided into two stages. The first will focus on a “reinterpretation” of the composer’s musical writing : Kenji Sakai will seek to “adjust” his own writing and integrate that of Gesualdo to his, thus establishing a link between the two different musical styles. This research will be carried out in view of the creation of a symphony orchestra and / or a piece for ensemble and electronics on which he will work for the 2016-2017 season. The second phase will be to explore the concept of “overhearing”, a term he defines as a questioning listening and dialogue with the heart.