Program notes

After hearing this piece through the "live streaming" of the Galway Festival Rising stars concert by Stephen Clark, I started looking for the music. Finding it wasn't available in the United States was heartbreaking. So I contacted a former student of mine working for Muramatsu flutes in Japan. She said they had the piece in a collection in their store! She graciously sent it to me. I had my husband listen to this "new-age" style piece, then asking my newly retired husband, if he thought he would be willing to make it into a flute choir arrangement. He has done a wonderful job with it. Mr. Muramatsu was impressed!

Francine

Takatsugu Muramatsu was born in 1978 in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. He graduated from the Composition Course of the Kunitachi College of Music.

Since debuting while still in high school with his original piano solo album "The Window", he has released original albums including "Tokyo", "Spiritual of The Mind", "Piano Sings" and "Lovely Notes of Life", which consist mainly of his piano music.

His talent as a composer of music for movies and dramas has received attention since his early years; he composed the music for the movie "Inugami" in 2001 during his senior year of college and for the movie "The Choice of Hercules" in 2002. In 2004, he became the youngest director of the music for NHK's serial TV drama "Tenka".

Afterward, he composed music for many movies and TV dramas, including the movie "Jiyuu Renai", the NHK Saturday drama series "Hyouheki"; the movies "Yunagi no Machi, Sakura no Kuni (Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms)", "Orion-za Kara no Shotaijou" and "Mouryou no Hako"; the NHK Saturday drama series "Kansahoujin"; the movies "Climber's High", "Ohoku" and "Antoki no Inochi"; the NHK serial TV drama "DanDan", and the movie "Nobody to Watch over Me".

The song "Far away", which he composed and which was sung by the British boy choir vocal group Libera, has become a large hit as the theme song of the NHK drama series "Hyouheki", and its simultaneous worldwide release has become a hot topic.

Throughout Japan, he also performs as a pianist in concerts, playing music mainly consisting of his original songs and impromptu performances.

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