Satoshi Kanazawa is a New York City based composer of contemporary music. Graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts, he received many awards and grants such as Shelley Pinz Professional Development Grant, NYFA Artists’ Fellowship with the additional title of Gregory Millard Fellow as well as Yoshinao Nakada Award in Sougakudo Japanese Art Song Competition, Grand Prize with Hirosaki City Mayor Award in Hirosaki Sakurano Sono Competition, Grand Prize in Lin Yao Ji International Competition and the 6th JFC Composers Award. He released his first debut CD, entitled "Flowing Blue" in 2009 to showcase his unique style of music. His award-winning piece called “Rhapsody for Trombone and Piano” was premiered in Japan by Katsumi Hagiya, in the U.S. by Charlie Vernon and in Canada by James C. Lebens. In 2009. Lately, his commissioned piece for Japanese bamboo flute and cello entitled “TSUGARU” was premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2019. His current concept of composition is “Locality in society”. His compositions are inspired by local cultures, myth or current social events and he seeks if locality is necessary in our modern world and how locality affects in our society. As a pianist, he has been performed in concerts at many venues in the U.S, Canada and Japan, and he also has twenty-five-year experiences of teaching piano especially for children at young age.
Besides his artistic activities, as a social contribution activity, he launched a project named “Artists in Action for Japan” associate with Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE) after massive earthquake hit Japan in 2011 to raise funds for supporting NGO and NPO taking recovering efforts in devastating areas in Japan directly hit by Tsunami and earthquake.
東京藝術大学作曲科卒業。 2006年から創作の拠点をニューヨークに移し現在に至る。2007-2008年文化庁新進芸術家海外留学制度研修員。弘前桜の園作曲コンクール優勝、あわせて弘前市長賞・下山一二三作曲賞、第6回JFC作曲賞入選、Lin Yao Ji国際作曲コンクール優勝、第25回奏楽堂歌曲コンクール中田喜直賞など受賞歴多数。また、New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) アーティストフェローシップあわせてGregory Millard賞、ならびにThe Shelley Pinz Professional Development 奨学金を授与される。ニューヨークのレーベルよりピアノ作品を中心としたCD「Flowing Blue」を発表。2019年には、津軽笛とチェロのための委嘱作品がカーネギーホールにて世界初演、その他カナダやオランダなどでも作品が演奏されている。 現在は「地域性と社会性」をテーマに、現代における地域性と音楽の関わりを模索した作品を創作している。
創作活動のほか、社会貢献活動の一環として「Artists in Action for Japan」を立ち上げ、東日本大震災被災者支援のための義援金支援活動、Prevent Child Abuse Americaへの支援のための演奏会などを企画開催している。
