Yasuhide Ito
Biography
Yasuhide Ito (b. 7 December 1960, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese composer and educator.
Ito began studying piano as a child, and completed graduate work at Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music in 1986 where he studied composition with Professor Teruyuki Noda.
Prof. Ito has composed more than 1000 works, more than 90 for wind band. His Gloriosa is one of the most frequently performed masterworks in the world, having the distinction of appearing in a standard Japanese high school music textbook. Ito won 3rd prize in the 51st Music Competition of Japan with a work for orchestra, and in 1986, he won the 1st prize of the competition for the Composition for Saxophone. As a pianist, Ito won 1st prize in the 5th Music Competition of Shizuoka in 1980. Ito is a member of the Japanese Society for Contemporary Music and the JBA.
Ito's lectures about Japanese band music at WASBE in 1995 (Hamamatsu) and 1997 (Austria) have had a great influence on the band world. Besides his composition career, Ito is well-known as an author and translator. He has written "Kangakki no Meikyoku Meienso" ("The Masterpieces and Great Performances of Wind Instruments") and translated Frank Erickson's "Arranging for the Concert Band." He teaches at Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, Sakuyo Music College and Tokyo Conservatoire Shobi. In addition, he is the regular conductor of the Tsukuba University Band.
Works for Winds
- Adagio for Band (2006)
- A la Suite Classique (1996)
- As Time Is Passing On (2000)
- Carmen Fantasy (as arranger) (1875/2009)
- Choral Fantasy (2002)
- Cioccolata d'amore
- Concertino for piano and band (Ito) (2007)
- Concerto for Tsugaru-Shamisen and Band (2013)
- Diferencias on an Old Spanish Song (2020)
- Evocation (Ito)
- Fanfares for National Athletic Meet at Fukushima
- Fantasia Classica (1992)
- Fantasia on a Bach Chorale Prelude (2002/2013)
- Fantasy Variations (2004/2012)
- Festal Ballade for Band (2016)
- Festal Scenes (1986)
- Festeggiamo e Cantiamo, Musica Festiva per Banda
- Fuji, Symphonic Sketch for Band (1992)
- Funa-Uta (1993/1999)
- Gloriosa ("Gururiyoza") (1990/2013)
- Go For Broke (2000)
- Hamamatsu Overture
- Hanyang Forever! (2010)
- Kokiriko alla Marcia (1999)
- La Follia nel Bosco (2013)
- La Vita (1998)
- Liturgia Sinfonica
- Maiko Spring March
- March 'Over the Century'
- March 'Over the Wind'
- March 'The Three Tops Hill'
- March, Wind & Sun
- Meguru Kisetsu ni
- Melodies for Wind Ensemble
- Morning Songs in Hiroshima (2009)
- Mt. Fuji March (2003)
- On the March (1978/1991)
- Pacem et gloriam pro nobis
- Peace, Peace, so Sing the Birds (2018)
- Piano Concerto (Ito)
- The Planets
- Preludio Celebrativo
- Progress
- Rag-Time-March
- Rapsodia di Toyama
- Rapsodia Formosa (1992)
- Remembrance II
- Ryukuan Fantasy for Band (1997/1998/2013)
- Ryukuan Fantasy for Saxophone Quartet (1997/1999)
- The Seashell Song (2012)
- Sinfonia Singaporiana (2005)
- Solo Una Volta! (2013)
- Soma Festival March
- Soma Festival March No.2
- Sonata Classica (1996)
- Tableau
- Taiwanese Posy (2007)
- That Which He Taught Us (2015)
- That Which He Taught Us (Baritone and Band) (2015/2016)
- Time into Music (2018)
- Variations from the Northern Sea (1993)
Resources
- The Horizon Leans Forward…, compiled and edited by Erik Kar Jun Leung, GIA Publications, 2021, p. 520.
- Miles, Richard B. 2000. Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. Volume 3. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 340.
- Takekawa, Miho. (2003). "Yasuhide Ito." In: A Composer's Insight, Volume 1. Galesville, Md.: Meredith Music Publications. pp. 97–106.
- Yasuhide Ito website
- Yasuhide Ito. Wikipedia. Accessed 19 July 2019