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Shin Mizutani (水谷 晨, born 1991) is a pianist and composer. He has studied music composition and electronic music with Richard Barrett, Robin de Raaff, and Hitomi Kaneko (金子 仁美).

He has been employed professionally with The Piano Teacher’s National Association of Japan as an arranger and orchestrator.

Biography and influences
Shin Mizutani's mother Chikako Mizutani, who is also a pianist, had a significant influence on him when he was a child. He studied violin as an adult, and Gérard Grisey's spectral music had an impact on him while he was completing his Bachelor of Composition.

Shin Mizutani has developed skills as a jazz pianist and composer associated with contemporary music. His academic background includes studies at Berklee College of Music, a bachelor's degree in The Netherlands, and a master's degree from Japan.

Shin Mizutani's compositions have been performed in Brazil, the United States, Europe and Asia. Attending Darmstädter Ferienkurse, for instance, was a fantastic chance to learn about the compositional practices of other young composers. Shin Mizutani gave a presentation on his compositional works at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse in 2016 and participated in seminars with Mark Andre, Mathias Spahlinger and Brian Ferneyhough.

In Shin Mizutani's wake, one can find other instructors who have made substantial contributions to compositional and performances development, such as Richard Barrett, Robin de Raaff, Stefano Gervasoni, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Milica Djordjevic, Philippe Hurel, Daniel d'Adamo, Dimitri Papageorgiou, Panayiotis Kokoras, Rand Steiger, Kees Tazelaar, Rene Uijlenhoet, Rijnhard Bokelmann, Frans de Berg, Theo Verbey, Arie Boers, Marcel Zijlstra, Francesca Tanksley, Tom Dommisse.

His compositions are distinguished by the accuracy and clarity of the scores, which enable instrumentalists to develop secure performances with organized freedom. When Shin Mizutani's scores and calligraphy were also displayed at museums and exhibitions, such as the “Northern Disease Exhibition” (2016) in Japan and “Musica con Vista” (2016) in Italy, his multidisciplinary proposals found acceptance in different artistic settings.

As a dedicated composer, Shin Mizutani had the chance to collaborate with numerous internationally famous ensembles and performers, including Klangforum Wien (Austria), Mivos Quartet (USA), Ensemble Dal Niente (USA), Oerknal Ensemble (the Netherlands), Ensemble Phace (Austria), Ensemble Suono Giallo (Italy), Ensemble Linea (France), Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble (Russia), Wood Quintet Rosier (Japan), Sapporo Kreis Quartet (Japan) and Tacet(i) Ensemble (Thailand), etc.

The brilliant career of Shin Mizutani has also been characterized by his involvement in contemporary music aesthetics and philosophies. He uses a variety of noise-making techniques. When Mizutani was younger, he attempted to incorporate electronic music approaches into authentic acoustic instrumental music, but as his career progressed, his compositions grew more and more abstract. The dialectic between the present and memories, as well as time itself, captured Mizutani's attention. The readings of Henri-Louis Bergson and Bin Kimura's works support this aesthetic predisposition. Mizutani has recently been attempting to include phenomenological philosophy in his compositional methods.

Shin Mizutani is a significant voice in the post-pandemic Japanese contemporary music scene thanks to his global perspective, aesthetic engagement, audacity, compositional innovation, and critical thinking about what is produced in Japan as far as compositions go.

Academic education

 * 2012 – Entered Rotterdam Conservatory (Codarts)
 * 2016 – Entered master's program in Sonology at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague
 * 2020 – Entered master's program at Toho College of Music
 * 2022 – Completed a master's degree at Toho College of Music

Main works

 * A Study of Difference and Repetition for string quartet (2015–2016)
 * Harpocrates for ensemble (2019)

Participation in music festivals

 * The premiere of A Study of Difference and Repetition, Op. 2 (2015–2016) and public lecture at the “VIPA Festival 2016” in Valencia, Spain, 5–16 July 2016.
 * The premiere of Quintet for Flute, Clarinet in A, Piano, Violin and Violoncello (2016) and public lecture of the piece at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse in 2016 in Darmstadt, Germany.
 * Commissioned premiere of Trio for Flute, Bass Clarinet in B♭, and Piano and public lecture at the “Delian Academy for New Music”, in Mykonos, Greece, 12–19 June 2017.
 * A Study of Difference and Repetition, Op. 2 was performed at the “Composition Academy Philippe Manoury - Musica festival” in Strasbourg, France, and a public lecture was given on the work from the period of study.
 * Piano Piece I for solo piano, Op. 1 (2015–2019) was premiered at the “ilSUONO 4th International Contemporary Music Week” and a public lectures on the piece Piano Piece I, Op. 1 and Flamenco Sketches for solo viola, Op. 4 (2017) was given in Città di Castello, Italy, 13–21 July 2022.
 * The premiere of Bachianas Americano for flute/piccolo, clarinet in B♭/bass clarinet, percussion, piano, harp, violin, viola and violoncello, Op. 9 (2022) at “The São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival” in São Paulo, Brazil, 29 September–8 October 2022.

Awards

 * First Special Prize at the 12th International Composition Competition “Città di Udine”, Solo and Ensemble Composition Category (Italy, 2018).
 * First Special Prize in the solo composition category and Second Prize in the orchestral composition category at the Academia Musica Vienna International Music Competition (Austria, 2019).
 * Second Prize in Sergei Slonimsky International Composition Competiton (Russia, 2020).
 * Second Prize in the International “Città di Barletta” Competition for Young Musicians in the ensemble composition category, as well as prizes in two other categories of the same competition (Italy, 2020).
 * Specially Mentioned in the “Andrea Cesaro” Rome Award (Italy, 2022).
 * In 2022, his work was selected with the most votes by the jury at ICE Music Week 2022 in Germany.