Autumn has always been a season full of memories for me. I recall those evenings in September during elementary school when the shortening daylight brought about a slight sense of loneliness... In October, as a child, I went to the local mountains with my grandfather to see the autumn leaves... In early November, during my junior high school days, I would sit on my balcony, shivering in the cold, while listening to jazz, including "Autumn Leaves," as dusk settled in... I have many more cherished memories of autumn that I can't possibly write about here. Now, living in Tokyo, where the changing of the seasons is less pronounced, these memories feel like phantoms buried deep in my heart. The slightly melancholic yet captivating atmosphere of autumn, along with a longing to return to those times, became the driving force behind the creation of this piece.
The music is structured around a primary motif of Fa-Mi-Do throughout the entire composition. While there is no particular story, I hope those who perform or listen to this piece will feel "something" in it.
Composer
Kazuki Shimoda
Born in 1992, in Hirono, Iwate. Since childhood, Shimoda was exposed to various types of music such as fusion and smooth jazz, and played the cornet after joining the school brass band in 4th grade. He joined the wind band and played trumpet in Hirono Town Taneichi Middle School, and then enrolled in Iwate Prefectural Kuji High School where he played euphonium and was appointed as student conductor.
Shimoda became interested in composition during middle school. After graduating high school, he moved to Tokyo to study further, graduating from Shobi College of Music's Composition Course in March 2014.
He studied composition under Yukio Kikuchi, Shinya Takahashi, and Hayato Hirose."Voyage" won an honorable mention in "Student Composition Championship 2013" hosted by [JuCuStage] in 2012.
"Across the City", a saxophone quartet, won an outstanding performance award (2nd) in "Second National Student Composition Championship Tournament" hosted by JuCuStage in 2013.
"Autumn Fantasy" a wind band composition, won best original score (1st) in "5th Japan Academic Society of Wind Music Composition Award" in 2013.
"Beach at Dawn", also a wind band composition, was nominated for the finals in "7th Academic Society of Wind Music Composition Award" in 2015.
"DaJa - 'Nanyadoyara' on a Southern Folk Song" won the 50th [JBA] "Shitaya Award" in 2017.
The wind ensemble piece "Thawing" has won First Prize in the Middle School Band Category of the 2024 Barbara Buehlman Composition Award, organized by The Midwest Clinic.
Currently, he is focusing on composition and arrangement for winds.
Official website of Kazuki Shimoda: Shimoda-Kazuki.net
(Kazuki Shimoda )
