Tokyo Music Competition
HOZAKI Yu
Bassoon
Born in: Saitama Prefecture, Japan
1st place, and Audience Award, Wind Section, The 21st Tokyo Music Competition 2023
Musical Study Experiences
March 2012 Graduated from the music course of Toho Daini Senior High School affiliated to Toho College of Music
March 2016 Graduated from the Bachelor of Music program, Tokyo College of Music (recipient of a scholarship)
March 2020 Received master’s degree from the Master of Music program, Tokyo College of Music (recipient of a scholarship second to the special scholarship)
March 2023 Graduated with a Ph.D. with summa cum laude from Tokyo College of Music (recipient of a scholarship second to the full tuition waiver)
2023 Artist Diploma course, Tokyo College of Music as a special tuition waiver
Teachers
Hozaki continues his studies under the visiting professor MIZUTANI Kazusa. Previously, studied chamber music under NAKANO Mari, SHINOHE Seiki, YASUHARA Riki, MIYAMOTO Fumiaki, and KUDO Shigenori, while learning basso continuo with WATANABE Yoshio. Studied bassoon under Volker TESSMANN in Berlin.
Took master classes of Matthias RACZ and Sophie DERVAUX.
Musical Careers
| 2011 | 5th Place, Wind Category, High School Male Division, the 21st Japan Classical Music Competition 3rd Place, Wind Category, High School Division, the 21st Junior Classical Music Competition in Japan Kawagoe Mayor Award, the 7th Japan Solo Competition for The Stringed, Wind, and Percussion Instruments |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 2nd Place, Bassoon Category, High School Course, the 14th Japan Junior Wind and Percussion Competition |
| 2015 | 3rd Place, Wind and Percussion Category, the 14th Tokyo College of Music Competition |
| 2021 | 3rd Place, Wind Section, the 19th Tokyo Music Competition (1st place not awarded) 2nd Place, Wind Category, the 31st Takarazuka Vega Music Competition |
| 2023 | Ph.D. with summa cum laude, Tokyo College of Music 1st Place and Audience Award, Wind Section, the 21st Tokyo Music Competition |
Further Activities
Hozaki joined Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Opera Project XV.
He studied in Berlin receiving grants from the Hironao Seki Memorial Culture and Arts Foundation and German Academic Exchange Service in 2018.
Other scholarships he received include:
2018–2022 The Fukushima Foundation
2022–2023 The Rohm Music Foundation
He also went to Vienna, Austria as a grant recipient of the program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists supported by Agency of Cultural Affairs Government of Japan, and studied at Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna under Marcelo PADILLA. From 2019 to 2022, he was assigned as a teaching assistant at Tokyo College of Music and taught younger students.
Previously, Hozaki has performed as a soloist with the New Japan Philharmonic, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.
He has performed with numerous Japanese and international conductotrs and artists at various events, such as Spring Festival in Tokyo, Kusatsu International Summer Music Academy & Festival, and Suntory Hall Summer Festival. In recent years, he has also been active in the field of contemporary music. In addition, he is active as a researcher, securing multiple public research grants and writing research papers and program notes on musical works.
Currently, he is an associate professor at Tokyo College of Music and Niigata University after serving as a research assistant at the graduate school of Tokyo College of Music.
Repertoire
As to solo, chamber, and orchestral music, Hozaki has been working on various pieces ranging from Baroque to the 20th century and later. Those pieces include early music using harpsichords and works containing Jazz elements. His doctoral dissertation was on bassoon concertos in the 18th century; however, he would perform any virtuoso concertos in any era. Recently, Hozaki has been performing premieres of solo and chamber music pieces (both historical and contemporary) and pieces that are not original to bassoon, including those written by Vivaldi, Fasch, Reichenauer, Jiránek, Mozart, Weber, Crusell, Jolivet.