Dr Yuko Ohara

Yuko Ohara is a composer and researcher with an international career in contemporary classical music.
She was awarded an Early Career Research Associateship at the Institute of Musical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London, in 2013–14. She completed a PhD at Brunel University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Composition at the Royal College of Music, where she received the United Music Publishers Prize for Composition in 2006. She also completed Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Ferris University in Japan. In 2024–25, Ohara studied and researched computer music at the Institute of Sonology, Royal Conservatoire The Hague. She was a Lecturer in Music at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music from 2015 to 2023. Her research has been supported by the British Council Japan, the Seary Charitable Trust, Brunel Graduate School, the PRS Foundation, the Bliss Trust and the Nomura Foundation in Japan.

Ohara was shortlisted by Sound and Music between 2007 and 2010. Her pieces were selected for a number of its professional development programmes, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra Embedded Project, the EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble Project, Out Hear at Kings Place, the Spirituoso at Handel House Project and the Soundwaves Festival Project.

Her work has also been presented, selected or featured at festivals, projects and conferences including the International Composer Pyramid (UK and France), the London New Wind Festival, the London Ear Festival, the Soundwaves Festival, the EN RUTA Project, the Sirga Festival (2015, 2016), Mixtur Festival (2017, 2022), the Mise-en Festival, the International Summer Course in Darmstadt, the Tzlil Meudcan International Festival in Israel, outHear New Music Week, Time of Music (Musiikin aika) in Finland, the New Dots Project, the duoDorT: Quantulum Project, Mise-en Place Bushwick, the Composition Workshops at the Institute of Musical Research (2012, 2013), the Royal Musical Association Research Students’ Conference (2013, 2014), the RMA Annual Conference (2017, 2020, 2023), the Twelfth Biennial International Conference on Music Since 1900 at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, the Northwestern University New Music Conference (2014, 2020), the International Conference on Contemporary Music at the University of A Coruña, the International Double Reed Society 38th Annual Conference at Birmingham Conservatoire, the International Alliance for Women in Music Annual Concert and the IRCAM Forum Workshops in Taipei. Her music has also been featured on BBC Radio 3.

Ohara received Second Prize at the VI Jurgenson International Composers’ Competition at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory and Second Prize at the London Ear Festival 2016 Composition Competition for Young Composers. She was a finalist for the Takefu Composition Award, the University of Aberdeen Music Prize and the Young Composers Workshop at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. She was also commended by the jury for the GERMI Prize 2010 in Italy and received a Special Mention in the International Music Prizes for Excellence in Composition 2009 from the National Academy of Music in Greece.

She has collaborated with soloists, ensembles and orchestras including Christopher Redgate, Rhodri Davies, Anton Lukoszevieze, Michael Schmid, Eiichi Chijiiwa and Junko Yamamoto; the Arditti String Quartet, EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble, Trio Accanto, Ensemble 2e2m, ELISION Ensemble, Ensemble Linea, mdi ensemble, Vertixe Sonora Ensemble, Klangforum Wien and PPCM, Ensemble Ictus, Curious Chamber Players, Ensemble Mise-en, Ensemble Platypus, Studio New Ensemble Moscow, InnoVox Ensemble, the International Composer Pyramid Ensemble, Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, duoDorT and Workers Union Ensemble; and the London Contemporary Orchestra, Tokyo Universal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, members of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Grupo Instrumental Siglo XX.

Further composition workshops and academies she has attended include the Takefu Composition Workshop, the Tzlil Meudcan International Summer Course, the 46th International Summer Course in Darmstadt, the ilSuono Academy and the International Young Composers Academy in Ticino. She also attended a computer music workshop at the Acanthes/IRCAM Summer Academy in 2010.

Ohara has studied with Haruna Miyake, David Sawer, Christopher Fox and Richard Barrett, and has participated in courses and masterclasses with composers including Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Finnissy, Rebecca Saunders, Hilda Paredes, Georges Aperghis, Beat Furrer, Tristan Murail, Steven Takasugi, Chaya Czernowin, Hanna Hartman, Akira Nishimura and Toshio Hosokawa.