Born in Tokyo in 1951, he studied composition at the city’s National University of Fine Arts and Music, with Hiroaki Minami (1973–77) and Toshiro Mayuzumi (1977–79). He continued his studies with Isang Yun at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin from 1979 to 1986.
His honours include First Prize in the Mönchengladbach competition (1985, for Toki-no-ito – Threads of Time) and the Irino Prize (1986). His music has been performed in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, the United States and Japan, including at the Winter Olympics in Nagano (1998).
As a conductor, he served as Music Director of the Ensemble Kochi in Berlin from 1982–86 and again in Tokyo since 1999. He has also served as Music Director of Camerata Nagano since 1990 and the Bunkyo Civic Orchestra in Tokyo since 1993. He has worked as
a guest conductor with orchestras in Germany and Japan.
Isao Matsushita is also active as an animateur of musical life. He organized concerts for the Asian Arts Festival of the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan in 1999 and served as executive chairman of the Asian Music Week in Yokohama (2000), the Nagano Music Festival (2000) and the Asian Music Festival in Tokyo (2003). In addition, he has served as vice-president of the Japan Federation of Composers since 1997 and as chairman of the Asian Composers League from 1999–2004.
He has taught composition at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music since 1987 and has been an associate professor of Asian contemporary music and other subjects at its Performing Arts Centre since 2003.

Selected works (since 1990): Chikugo, symphonic poem for large orchestra (1990), Sea Space for 13-string koto, violin and piano (1990), Optical Scope 1 for electric organ and percussion (1990), Black Landscape, concertino for female choir and piano to a text by Katsue Kitazono (1991), Grand Atoll for four saxophones and large orchestra (1992), Quintet for oboe, horn, violin, cello and piano (1992), Toki-no-ito 3 for large orchestra (1993), Hi-ten-yu (Fly-Heaven-Play) for wadaiko (Japanese percussion) and ensemble (1993) (also version for wadaiko and large orchestra – 1994), Yume-no-shirabe-ni (To the Air of a Dream) for viola and small orchestra (1995), Boufuri (Mosquito Larva), kyogen opera (traditional comic theatre) to a libretto by Kyusei Miyake Tokuro for kyogen and small orchestra (1995), Southern Picture Book for female choir with a text by Kunio Kishid (1996), Shinano-no-kuni (Zenkoji Story), opera in 3 acts to a libretto by Jun Maeda (1997), Yume-no-omoi-ni (For the Love of a Dream) for cello and piano (1998), Concerto for saung gauk (Japanese harp) and large orchestra (1999), Concerto for tsugaru shamisen (3-string lute) and large orchestra (2000), Kaze-no-utage (Festival of the Wind) for an optional number of yokobue (Japanese family of flute) (2000), Fantastic Dream for chamber ensemble (2000), Tenjiku shokei, oratorio with texts from Buddhist sutras for shomyo (Buddhist singer), reciter, mixed choir, children’s choir and large (2000), Mantra for violin (2001), Dhammapada 1 for harp, violin, percussion and ikebana (2001), Dhammapada 2 for harp, violin, percussion and kohdoh (perfume ritual) (2002), Dhammapada 3 for harp, violin, percussion and tea-making ceremony (2002), Dharani – Time for Prayer, symphony for calligrapher ad lib. and small or large orchestra (2002), Minasoko-no-kan, traditional ballet for noh dancers and small orchestra (2002), Dhammapada 4 for harp, violin, percussion and calligraphy (2003), Kisaragi-ni (To February) for nohkan (bamboo flute) and small orchestra (2003), Togakushi Story, ballet (2004), Mantra of Flame for four percussions (2004), Gassho (A Prayer), symphony with
a text from Buddhist sutras for shomyo and small orchestra (2004), Minaduki no oto (Sounds of June) for vibraphone (2005), Time for Prayer, concerto for two violins and orchestra (2005).

Drum Concerto ‘Hi-Ten-Yu’ (Fly-Heaven-Play)
The ‘wadaiko’, a traditional Japanese drum instrument, has occasionally been used in ‘matsuri’, an original ritual in Japan and has played an impressive role in connecting heaven with earth there. Its vigorous tone reminds one both of soaring up to heaven, as it transforms into a free, delicate tone, and of descending to the very depths of the earth, from which it rebounds to grow again.
Hi-Ten-Yu consists of three parts. Its motif is ‘flying up to heaven, and playing there’. The piece is chiefly characterized by the free movement of ‘wadaiko’, and, on the whole, its tonal progress shifts from peace to motion. My intention was to harmonize the two elements: the free, keen sensibility and intuition of the performers, and the logical constructivism of chamber music. Hi-Ten-Yu was premiered by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in the summer of 2000 in Berlin.
Isao Matsushita