Kosugi, Takehisa

Kosugi, Takehisa, inventive Japanese composer and violinist; b. Tokyo, March 24, 1938. He studied at the Tokyo Univ. of Fine Arts and Music, then founded the group Ongaku, which introduced mixed-media improvisational performance in Japan. In 1969 he founded the Taj Mahal Travelers (“TMT”), with which he toured in India, the Near East, and Europe; upon returning to Japan, the group frequently participated in rock and jazz festivals. In 1976 Kosugi was invited to compose for the Merce Cunningham Dance Co., and, after moving to the U.S. in 1977, appeared in performances with John Cage and David Tudor. Kosugi regularly creates installations in which he employs acoustic and self-designed electronic instruments; his aesthetic premise is that a performance must make the invisible aspects of a given situation perceptible, audible, and tangible, revealing what is hidden and enabling sounds to be seen as well as heard. In this original capacity he has performed since 1978 in Paris, Rome, Berlin, Bremen, Cologne, and London. Among his commissioned works for the Mercce Cunningham Dance Co. are S.E. Wave/E.W. Song (1976), Interspersion (1979), Cycles (1981), Spacings (1984), Assemblage (1986), Rhapsody (1987), and Spectra (1989). His major installations include Interspersions for 54 Sounds (1980), Spacings (audiovisual version; 1985), and Loops (1988). As a violinist, he made a remarkable recording, entitled simply Violin Improvisations (1990). In 1995 he succeeded David Tudor as music director of the Cunningham Dance Co.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire