Taichi Junction (Taichi Imanishi) was born in Japan and grew up there until he became sixteen. He then moved to England to study GCSEs and A-levels planning to return afterwards. However, he stayed there and carried on studying at higher education.
He studied BA Applied Psychology and Sociology at the University of Brighton, but after completing the degree, he moved to London to do a master’s at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in Percussion studies with composition as an elective subject. While he was there, he studied percussion with both nationally and internationally celebrated musicians such as David Corkhill, Richard Benjafield and Adrian Spillett, and composition with Julian Philips. He also studied with Simon Limbrick before and after entering the music college, who is a very well-known and respected percussionist and composer in the UK. He demonstrated a wide range of percussion repertoire unique to many UK audiences and composed a piece consisting of a unique combination of musical instruments leading him to graduate with first class honours.
Taichi has recently embarked on an journey to discover the aesthetics of compositions for Japanese (or non-western) and western instruments at SOAS since 2013 under the supervision of Keith Howard. He has recently won second prize of 23rd TIAA All Japan Composition Competition.
His composition styles vary widely from avant-garde to light classical- but he is very good at applying his extended knowledge of Japanese and oriental music to new compositions. His knowledge of psychology also boosts his creation to another level, especially for collaboration projects such as theatre and dance – in that he can steer the sounds in various angles to paint the objects colourfully and look stunning.
You can find some of his example works in the “Works” Page.
Qualifications
- MA Chamber Music (percussion) – Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2011
- BA Hons Applied Psychology and Sociology – University of Brighton in 2009
- Mphil Ethnomusicology – School of Oriental and African Studies in 2015 (newly upgraded to a PhD candidate)
