Biography
I was born in 1953, raised in Tokyo and moved to New York in 1977. Soon after, I started playing drums and formed the experimental no wave band called DNA with Arto Lindsay. In the mid ‘80s John Zorn introduced me to the NY downtown-improvising scene and I began performing using drum-machines, a very unlikely choice in the context of improvised music, forging my own unique approach. Since then I have collaborated with numerous musicians in diverse genres and styles throughout the US, Europe, and Asia, while continuing to produce and record my own compositions. I received the award for Prix Ars Electronics Digital Music in 1999. Shortly after I started using laptop computer to expand my vocabulary, not only playing sounds but creating and control images. I Received a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts in 2006 and Tate Modern commissioned me to create a live sound track for screenings of Maya Deren's silent films in 2007. Recent commissioners include the Montalvo Arts Center and SWR German radio program where I produced and recorded all female ensemble “Phantom Orchard Orchestra” with zo-writer zeena Parkins and commissioned to remake of traditional Tarab music at Shajah Art foundation in UAE. Continue to perform live concert and releasing album and recently collaborate to compose and performed music for “Moving off land” by Joan Jonas. Currently received the Instant Award in improvised music for 2019. Being named a MacArthur Fellow in 2022
workshop/lecture in various schools include University of Gothenburg, Dartmouth Collage, New England Conservatory, Mills Collage, Stanford University, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago