The album “Kinderszenen” with music by Yoichi Sugiyama is a portrait CD in the best sense. It not only shows various facets of the composer, but the works also have strong biographical connections.

Like many Asian composers of his generation, Sugiyama combines Eastern and Western influences in his music. At times this is readily apparent, as in the work Kuguhi for 17-string bass koto (a Japanese zither), or quite subtle, as when he used Schumann’s Kinderszenen as the initial material for a complex and richly differentiated viola quartet.

After growing familiar with the Japanese new music scene - and also influencing it himself - it was Sugiyama’s fascination with contemporary Italian composers that led him to travel to Europe. Today he is internationally established as a composer and a conductor.