Composer

Composition is my most vital tool for communicating with the audience. Music is not only for entertainment and to make them relax but also to surprise and sometimes shock them and let them focus on new sounds and time structures. Contemporary music, my main musical genre, allows me to use such an “experimental” communication with people, and it could expand new possibilities of listening to music.

Listen to more works

Concerts

Competition Results

2020.12.12

アコーディオン界で最も名声あるコンクールの一つである「CMA世界アコーディオンコンクール」（フランス）の作曲部門にて、自作『憧憬 Yearning for accordion solo』が第6位に入賞しました。

Sixth prize in the “Trophée Mondial De L'accordéon 2020” in France, 

in the International Composition category                                                 

2020.11.26

「第2回K作曲譜面審査コンクール」（審査員：青島広志、山田武彦各氏）において、自作のオーケストラ作品『A Plank in Reason for Orchestra』が第1位を受賞しました。

First prize in the"K Music Composition Competition” in Japan

2020.11.24

フィンランドで開催された作曲コンクール"International JSFest 2020 Composition Competition"プロフェッショナル部門で第1位を受賞しました。

First prize in the “International JSFest 2020” in Finland, 

in the Composition Competition (for professionals) category 

1997年、埼玉県生まれ。国立音楽大学演奏・創作学科作曲専修卒業。現在、フィンランドのシベリウス・アカデミー作曲科修士課程に在籍。デンマークの現代音楽作曲家Per Nørgärdの作品における時間構造についての研究を行なっている。これまで作曲を台信遼、Veli-Matti Puumala各氏に、音楽理論を今村央子、佐藤岳晶、吉田真梨、Olli Väisälä各氏に、ピアノを井上郷子、Junio Kimanen各氏に師事。

作編曲のご依頼はこちら

Yuto Obata is a Japanese composer and pianist based in Helsinki, Finland.

Obata’s music features delicate acoustics and a distinctive time structure, aiming to expand the sound possibilities with acoustic instruments. The honorable international ensembles, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Norrbotten NEO, and Avanti! Chamber Orchestra have played his works.

He has ranked high in international competitions. In 2020, he won 1st prize in the K Composition Competition in Japan. He also received the Finland Scholarship in 2021 and the Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation scholarship in 2023.

Yuto Obata graduated from the Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo, Japan, in 2020. He has been studying composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, since 2022. He has studied composition under Ryo Dainobu and Veli-Matti Puumala and piano under Satoko Inoue and Junio Kimanen.

Artistic Statement by Yuto Obata (2024)

My first musical experience was the piano when I was four. My older sister started attending a music school before me, and I was jealous of her playing the piano in her recital. Then, I asked my mother to join her next lesson. When I visited her class for the first time, I asked my mother, “Where is the audience?” I thought that music must always be expressed before an audience. As a composer, I always consider the relationship between the audience and music. Composition is my most vital tool for communicating with the audience. Music is not only for entertainment and to make them relax but also to surprise and sometimes shock them and let them focus on new sounds and time structures. Contemporary music, my main musical genre, allows me to use such an “experimental” communication with people, and it could expand new possibilities of listening to music.

I have composed for various instrumentations, from solo instruments to orchestra, with classical music notation. My greatest interest in composition is delicate sound color and stretching time. Danish contemporary composer Per Nørgård made me realize how exciting considering time through composing is.

As my other musical background, 60s and 70s classic rock music has inspired me a lot. In my childhood, my father played rock music, such as the Beatles, Kinks, and Bee Gees, on the home stereo. I furthered my rock interests in my teenage years and then found hard rock, punk, and heavy metal. The experience is not only a past memory but also still inspires my music and appears as musical elements, such as distorted, noisy, and strong percussive sounds, in my music. My musical interests in delicate sound and time, as well as the musical influences from rock music make my music more unique and offer a new listening experience.