Why is it important to find new ways to create and where do we find inspiration to try new things? This is one of the many topics I covered with this week’s guest, Composer Eimi Tanaka

We also discuss Eimi’s jazz background and its influence on her work, her process for developing themes, and the contrast between composing for television and creating a concert work.

Full Transcript.

Topics Covered:

Where Composing Starts

Composing with a Performer in Mind

Developing Themes for a Piece

Exploring New Techniques and Finding Inspiration

Eimi’s Jazz Background and Influence

Balancing Traditions of Classical Music with Something New

The Difference in Composing for Film and Television

How Long it Takes to Compose a Piece

Working on Multiple Projects at Once

Working with Handwritten Notes

Teaching Piano and Composition

Connecting with Music

Staying Inspired and Seeing the Big Picture

Links:

Eimi Tanaka’s Website: www.tanakastudiosnyc.com

Clip of Shifting Pieces by Eimi Tanaka

Performed by: Mavis Pan, piano

Recorded at the National Opera Center's Scorca Hall, NYC, on Oct 31, 2021.

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More about Eimi:

Eimi Tanaka is a freelance composer, pianist, and teacher based in New York City. She started classical studies on the piano at age 8, and then during high school attended at the Mannes College of Music preparatory division with a scholarship. There she studied with pianist Deborah Jamini, as well as classical theory, composition, and chamber music with other world-renowned faculty in New York City. During her senior year of high school, she discovered jazz and began studying improvisation. She attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston for a bachelors degree in piano and music business, and received her masters in jazz studies and composition at New York University with the Steinhardt Graduate Scholarship. In Boston and New York, she has studied with world-renowned faculty such as Joanne Brackeen, Frank Carlberg, Jean-Michel Pilc, Gil Goldstein, Ralph Alessi, Wayne Krantz, and George Garzone, among many others. She has performed in many venues in the Boston and New York City areas, as well as in Florence and Sienna, Italy, through NYU's jazz studies program and Florence's jazz festival.

Before attending NYU's master's program, Eimi has worked in various branches of the music industry, including concert production, record labels, and publicity, and worked in well-known companies such as Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.

As a composer, she has created original music for her own jazz trio, scores for short films which have played in festivals in New York and abroad, production music for television shows which are currently in syndication on CBS and the CW networks, and also classical compositions which have been performed by various groups in NYC.