Mason Kaneto Ishida

USA

Mason Kaneto Ishida is a composer and pianist from Northern Virginia and a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied composition with John Mallia. He studied piano performance and composition at Carnegie Mellon University’s pre-college program, where he received a partial scholarship, Mason also attended the New York Summer Music Festival for three summers from 2013 to 2015, where he studied piano performance and sang in choir alongside faculty from some of the country’s leading conservatories.With over twenty years of piano study and performance experience, Mason draws inspiration from Beethoven, Scriabin, Bartók, and Shostakovich, as well as the creative energy of Nirvana and Radiohead — a combination that shapes his distinctive voice: emotionally direct, rhythmically fearless, and deeply committed to craft.

His works span chamber ensembles, orchestra, and solo piano. In 2025, Mason premiered "An Exaggeration" for Chamber Orchestra at Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall as part of the Sound Espressivo Gala Laureate Concert. That work has since earned remarkable recognition on the international stage: a Gold Award at the Global Young Musicians Competition in Gdańsk, Poland; Gold Prize in Composition, Gold Prize in Own Composition, Gold Prize in 20th and 21st Century Music, and Special Award — Artist of the Season at the Classical Stars International Music Competition; and Gold in Composition for his orchestral "Suite" and "String Quartet No. 2" at the Mozart International Music Competition. His "String Quartet No. 2" also received a Platinum Award in the composer category at the Fenix International Music Competition in Gdańsk. Mason is currently a finalist in the World’s Best Musician Competition with "An Exaggeration" for Symphony Orchestra. On April 28, 2026, his solo piano work "Dance of Frustration" is to be performed by pianist Joanna Chow as part of the Sound Espressivo Gala Laureate Concert at Carnegie Hall. Both artists are based in the Northern Virginia area, and their work together reflects a shared enthusiasm for bringing new compositional voices to the concert stage.

Mason’s approach balances tradition with exploration — music shaped by emotion, craft, and curiosity. He plans to pursue graduate study in composition and welcomes opportunities for commissions, future performances, and scoring for video games and indie films. He is also actively seeking opportunities to teach piano in supportive studio and academy settings.

Latest Recognition

Platinum Prize

COMPOSITION

Ravel Award International Music Competition — 1/2026

Awards & Recognitions

A timeline of recognition

Ravel Award International Music Competition — 1/2026

COMPOSITION · H

"Dance of Frustration" and "An Exaggeration" for Piano (same video) "An Exaggeration" for Chamber Orchestra "A (baroque??) HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION!" "An Exaggeration" for Symphony Orchestra

Platinum Prize

Performance 1 →Performance 2 →Performance 3 →Performance 4 →

World's Best Musicians Competition — 1/2026

COMPOSITION

For this piece I was tasked with composing something catchy and that tells a story. For this I wanted to create an accessible musical representation of the emotional experience of having one’s sense of reality distorted or diminished- basically the experience being gaslit. I was inspired by my own experience with this sort of manipulation happening and was thinking a lot about that experience while composing this. Looking at the score the various labels next to the tempo markings offer a sense of the stories progression - markings like “Agitated” “self doubt” “rebuttal” “reassurance” and “a Grand Exaggeration” (which is like a final moment of realization for what has been occurring throughout the story, this final rock song is both triumphant and disheartening and the piece closes with a harsh gesture which represents a door slam or the act of cutting a person out of one’s life abruptly.) When listening to “An Exaggeration” if the audience members have had their own experiences with being gaslit I’d hope they’d connect the music to their own experience and maybe feel a sense of relief over it.

Outsanding Laureate

Performance →

Mozart International Music Competiton — 1/2026

COMPOSITION

"Suite" by Mason Ishida, Here is an orchestral suite which I originally wrote for piano from fall 2018 to spring 2019. Only the first movement was ever performed ("Prelude" video on my channel), and it's been acquiring dust in my google drive ever since. I decided to arrange it for orchestra as practice orchestrating. The music was influenced by Bach and Bartok and Stravinsky mainly. These are Musescore 4 midi sounds. Enjoy... I. Prelude II.Scherzo 3:20 III. Sarabande 4:44 IV. Anti-Waltz 7:22 String Quartet No. 2 by Mason Ishida “After the New England Conservatory sent all students home due to COVID-19, I began work on this string quartet immediately after returning home. I finished it in five days - the fastest I Have ever finished a multi movement work (though it is only about six minutes minutes). I worked under a six minute time limit because I planned to submit it for a reading session which didn't allow for pieces longer than six minutes. This was for a summer festival called EAMA at the Nadia Boulanger Institute in Paris which I never attended because of the pandemic. The assignment was to show off contrapuntal ability. I composed this while taking the course (online at that point) sixteenth century counterpoint with Professor Lyle Davidson, who passed away during the pandemic, and I intended to dedicate it to him though he never heard it. I structured the piece: A-B-A'-CODA (B') similar to the structure of Bartok's Third Quartet (my favorite of his quartets). The harmony also is quite inspired by Bartok, though I aimed to add a lot of my own flavors to it. All movements keep the same underlying pulse, the second movement just counts the quarter instead of the half. This makes the attaccas between each movement much more fluid.” —Mason Ishida Date: 2020 Dedicatee: in memory of Lyle Davidson Order: Table of Contents: 0:00 No. 1 - Like a Motet without Words: 0:08 No. 2 - Aggressive, Dance-Like: 2:08 No. 3 - Reminiscence: 3:45 Performers: Tiffany Chang on violin Alison Kim on violin Julian Seney on viola Mari Nagahara on cello