Joe Hisaishi, a composer, conductor and pianist, has established himself as a formidable force in contemporary music, for his delicately crafted symphonic and solo works, as well as his globally successful film music. Hisaishi is greatly in demand as a conductor performing with the most notable symphony orchestras across the globe. With nearly 40 solo albums and over 100 film scores to his name, he is one of the most celebrated composers of our time.
Renowned for his long-standing collaboration with Japanese anime director Hayao Miyazaki and the Studio Ghibli films, Hisaishi has won international awards for his scores. His popular soundtracks for Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Ponyo amongst others, capture his sensitive and imaginative amalgamation of the symphonic, jazz, electronic and minimalist genres. Many of these iconic works have been brought to huge live audiences in his recent sold-out performances in Madison Square Garden, New York over 3 nights, La Defense in Paris and Olympic Hall in Munich. Autumn 2024 sees a two-day residency at Royal Albert Hall in London where he brings “Hisaishi Symphonic” live shows which includes Princess Mononoke Suite, his Symphony No. 2, as well as Britten’s Four Sea Interludes with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Hisaishi’s recent engagements have included the Toronto and Chicago symphony orchestras; the Royal, Helsinki, and Rotterdam philharmonic orchestras; and the Vienna Symphony. Alongside his film music works, he conducts classical repertoire by Ravel, Reich, Mussorgsky, Brahms, and Arvo Pärt, as well as his own works, such as DA-MA-SHI-E and The East Land Symphony. Hisaishi also held a weeklong residency with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in 2024. After his Hollywood Bowl debut in 2023, Hisaishi returned to the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the world premiere of his Harp Concerto, commis-sioned by the orchestra and performed by its principal harp Emmanuel Ceysson.
Hisaishi made debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra this season and with the Philadelphia Orchestra and at the BBC Proms with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra last season. Additional appearances include returns to the Philadelphia and Toronto symphony orchestras and premieres of his new work, Concerto for Orchestra, with various partners globally.
Renowned for his long-standing collaboration with Japanese anime director Hayao Miyazaki, Hisaishi has won international awards for his scores. His popular soundtracks for Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Howl’s Moving Castle, among others, capture his amalgamation of the symphonic and minimalist genres. In 2024 he held a two-day residency with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall in London for his Hisaishi Symphonic live shows.
An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon record-ing artist, Hisaishi has released Merry-Go-Round of Life and A Symphonic Celebration, both new arrangements of his Studio Ghibli masterpieces. Joe Hisaishi in Vienna features the world premiere recordings of his Symphony no. 2 and Viola Saga with the Vienna Symphony and solo-ist Antoine Tamestit, and Joe Hisaishi Conducts, released in August 2025, is his most recent.
As a passionate pioneer of contemporary music, Hisaishi collaborates with similarly experimental artists including Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, Nadia Sirota, Philip Glass, David Lang, and Terry Riley. Since 2014, he has presented his MUSIC FUTURE concerts in Tokyo, bringing together the works and talents of these notable collaborators. Volume 12 of the series was presented in Tokyo in the fall of 2025. He holds a Young Composer’s Competition each year, and the winning composition makes its world premiere at MUSIC FUTURE concerts.
Joe Hisaishi is the recipient of both the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon (2009) and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (2023) from the Japanese government. Hisaishi is music director of the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra from the 2025–26 season and was appointed composer-in-association
of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 2024. Other posts include composer-in-residence of the Philadelphia Orchestra, composer-in-focus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (2026), and composer-in-association of the Philharmonie de Paris (from September 2026).
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
