Laureate

Kyoichiro Mii

Japan

Kyoichiro Mii Kyoichiro Mii is a composer who approaches sound as a physical and human phenomenon, focusing on “voice,” “breath,” and structural clarity. Through lucid formal design and corporeal musical gestures, his work explores the relationship between body and time. He studied composition in the Master’s Program at Tokyo College of Music, inheriting the compositional philosophy of Teruyuki Noda, and is currently studying under Keiko Harada and Naoki Sakata. He also conducted research in spatial analysis in the Master’s Program at the University of Tokyo, developing a compositional language that integrates statistical and structural analysis with musical logic and acoustics. His string quartet Adagio et Fugue — Hommage to Teruyuki Noda was selected as a Japanese representative work for the ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music) World New Music Days 2026 in Romania. His chamber works have been performed internationally, including at the Asia Music Festival 2025. In recent years, he received the Absolute Winner and Own Composition Absolute Winner awards at the Classical Stars International Music Competition. He also achieved the highest prize at the Brahms International Music Competition (Composition Division) and the All Japan Composers Competition, and has received numerous awards at international competitions including the Saint-Saëns International Music Competition and the Leuven International Music Competition. His song cycle Ephemeral Times was awarded 2nd Prize at the Franz Schubert International Composition Competition 2026, demonstrating the international recognition of his compositional language in the vocal domain. Drawing on his experience as a choral and orchestral performer, he prioritizes playability, richness of sound, and long-term artistic value over superficial novelty. His works range from a cappella choral music and chamber music to wind ensemble and orchestral compositions, and are performed both in Japan and internationally. Member of the Japan Federation of Composers (JFC).

Latest Recognition

Platinum Award

COMPOSITION

Brahms International Online Music Competition — 3/2026

Awards & Recognitions

A timeline of recognition

Brahms International Online Music Competition — 3/2026

COMPOSITION

Away! Away! **Program Notes:** Away! Away! is a meditation on escape—escape from systems, from the city, and from the structures that shape our voices. While working in Tokyo, surrounded by concrete and routine, I felt my own “voice” gradually fading. Shelley’s poem became a permission to flee, to breathe, and to rediscover sound as a form of inner truth. The unaccompanied choir is a space where the voice stands bare. My years singing large-scale works—Messiah, The Creation, Elijah, Mahler’s Resurrection, Beethoven’s Ninth—taught me that the voice is not merely sound, but prayer, question, and resonance. This piece carries that understanding in miniature form. In the poem’s longing “to the silent wilderness,” I found a musical image of release: the dissolution of structure, the emergence of breath, and the fragile freedom of a voice stepping outside the city’s frame. On stage, I chose a slightly loosened business‑casual attire. It carries the traces of someone who has lived within the machinery of the city, yet stands in the raw moment of stepping away from it. A white shirt with the top button undone, a posture left intentionally unpolished—these small disruptions mirror the instant when an individual voice rises within a system. That subtle “unfastening” resonates with the work’s central theme: the emergence of a self moving beyond the structures that once contained it.

Platinum Award

Performance →

Haydn Online Music International Competition — 2/2026

COMPOSITION

Une Japonaise dans Paris **Program Notes:** I. By the Banks of the Seine/ Au bord de la Seine II. Ball at the Palais Garnier/ Bal au Palais Garnier III. Fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral/ L’incendie de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame IV. Prayer at the Madeleine Church/ Prière à l’Église de la Madeleine V. Arc de Triomphe Polonaise/ Polonaise de l’Arc de Triomphe Une Japonaise dans Paris is a five‑movement work inspired by my walks through Paris in the days following the 2019 fire at Notre‑Dame. The calm surface of the Seine, the fallen spire, the golden ceilings of the Palais Garnier, the silence of the Madeleine Church, and the monumental weight of the Arc de Triomphe became fragments of a personal narrative shaped by the city’s memory. The title refers to another version of myself—a quiet, observing presence, imagined as a woman whose gaze moves gently through the city. Her perspective allowed me to trace a path through Western music history: the pulse of medieval isorhythm, Baroque ornamentation, Romantic breath, and the crystalline clarity of twelve‑tone technique. These elements appear as subtle structural echoes within each movement. The trio of oboe, bassoon, and piano becomes footsteps on stone, the resonance of prayer, and the inner tremor of an outsider walking through a city of layered time.

Absolute Winner

Performance →

Mozart International Music Competiton — 2/2026

COMPOSITION

Quintette à vent Ⅰ.Scherzo　Ⅱ.Romance　Ⅲ.Bagatelle　Ⅳ.Valse Quintette à vent was inspired by the Paris Olympic Games, yet it does not portray athletic scenes or the excitement of competition. Instead, the work reflects the quiet hope for peace that emerges when people from around the world gather in one place, sharing their cultures, histories, and values. This sense of unity—fragile, momentary, yet deeply human—became the source of the music. The Scherzo opens with light, agile gestures that capture the mixture of exhilaration and subtle tension when different cultures first encounter one another. The Romance offers a gentle melody shaped by the kindness and compassion shared across nations. The Bagatelle is a brief musical smile, evoking the small joys of everyday life. The final Valse turns like a single, unified world—circling with balance, hope, and the dream of harmony. With this quintet, I wished for music to cross borders more easily than words, and to kindle a quiet light within the listener’s heart.