Haruyo Nishizawa

Haruyo Nishizawa began her musical studies with the violin at the age of 4, moved to the clarinet at the age of 12, and at 18 decided to specialize in this instrument.

After graduating from university, she immediately began her professional career, especially in the field of contemporary music; the Japanese creation Strange by Marc Monnet for solo small clarinet was a great success. Haruyo Nishizawa is a founding member of the group Manufacture with the composer Keiko Harada in 1994 where she will stay for 5 years to expand her musical activities. In 1995, she became a member of the Tokyo Sinfonietta on bass clarinet and participated in many world and Japanese premieres.

In 2000, she created the clarinet duo Duolet with her former teacher Yasuaki Itakura, who continues its activities in recital or radio broadcasting, and in 2004, she founded a clarinet ensemble with her colleagues and students to give a series of concerts throughout Japan.

Among her Japanese creations: in 2009, when she premiered Art of Metal by Yann Robin, she received a compliment from the composer himself "It is with great interest and pleasure that I have just discovered the recording of Art of Metal made by the Tokyo Sinfonietta last December 2. I must confess that I did not think that this piece could be played by another clarinetist than Alain Billard for a very long time; Ms. Haruyo Nishizawa's performance is really very impressive and I congratulate her greatly for her commitment, energy and musicality... what a performance!"

As a pedagogue, she teaches at universities and music schools to promote the French School. She participated in the revision of Klosé's Method in Japanese.

Since the beginning of her career, she plays a Selmer clarinet.

Photo credit: Laëtitia Lécuyer / Henri SELMER Paris