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2024-08-01

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Naoko Ikeda (b.1964) is the first Japanese composer to sign with an American publisher, The Willis Music Company, which has exclusively published her works in the United States since 2004. As of this writing, Ikeda’s pedagogical compositions have begun to gain global appeal and are increasingly utilized in lessons, concerts, festivals, lectures, examinations, and competitions across Japan, the United States, Canada, and Europe. This document explores Naoko Ikeda’s solo piano works, presents an overview of her solo piano music, and analyzes 38 pieces from 6 selected collections from her output. Chapter 1 presents the overview, purpose, need, limitations, and procedures of the study, and includes a review of related literature. Chapter 2 offers a biographical sketch of Naoko Ikeda, shedding light on her musical upbringing and significant career accomplishments to date. Chapter 3 outlines Ikeda’s eclectic compositional style, which draws inspiration from a variety of Eastern and Western musical genres and styles. This chapter also briefly surveys her published works for piano to determine the development of her compositional style over the last two decades. To supplement this survey, chronological and leveled guides to Ikeda’s complete piano works to date are provided in Appendices A and B. Appendices C and D provide the Institutional Review Board’s Approval Letter and the Interview Guide used to conduct email interviews with Ikeda. Appendix E outlines Hal Leonard’s Copyright Permission Letter to reproduce Ikeda’s music in this document. Chapters 4 through 9 analyze 38 solo piano pieces from 6 collections: Shoukei, Book 1 (2004), Shoukei, Book 2 (2005), Moving Pictures (2006), Celestial Dreams (2007), Miyabi (2012), and Aya (2022). For each of these 6 collections, the author offers a brief discussion on the background of the piece, a compositional analysis, and a pedagogical analysis. Chapter 10 concludes the study, summarizes Ikeda’s compositional style and contributions as a composer, and suggests potential avenues for future research. By exploring Ikeda’s piano music, this document addresses the dearth of academic literature on Ikeda’s works, acknowledges her growing global importance as an educational composer, and serves as a resource for teachers and pianists interested in Ikeda’s music.

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Piano, Piano Pedagogy, Naoko Ikeda, Japanese Pedagogical Piano Repertoire

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