was a Japanese-born American composer and performer. He is best known for his scores for the avant-garde films by Maya Deren.

Early life

Ito was born in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

to a theatrical family. His mother, Teiko Ono, was a dancer and his father, Yuji Ito, was a designer and composer. His younger brother Teimoc Johnston-Ono is an Olympic

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

. His family moved to the United States when he was six. Ito accompanied his mother's dance performance at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

in New York City; he performed for both Japanese and Korean dance. At 15, he ran away from home. He began to compose at age 17. He met Maya Deren during this time and in 1955, traveled with her to

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. There, Ito studied under a master drummer. Ito would also compose the score for Deren's '' Meshes of the Afternoon'' at Deren's request. Ito married Deren in 1960 and remained married to her until her death on October 13, 1961. The

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

actor Jerry Ito (1927–2007) was Teiji Ito's first cousin.

Career

Ito won an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

for his scores during the 1960-1961 off-Broadway season; the productions included

Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a ...

's ''

In the Jungle of Cities ''In the Jungle of Cities'' (German language, German: ''Im Dickicht der Städte'') is a play (theatre), play by the Germany, German Modernism, modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. Written between 1921 and 1924, it received its first theatrical p ...

'', ''

King Ubu King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by fi ...

'', and ''Three Modern Japanese Plays''. In 1963, he composed the score for the Broadway production of ''

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest may refer to: * ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Ken Kesey * ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (play), a 1963 stage adaptation of the novel starring Kirk Douglas * ''One Flew Over the ...

''. Ito wrote ''

Watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

'' which was first performed by the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...

in 1971. Ito also performed and composed for Jean Erdman's Theater of the Open Eye. Ito and his fourth wife, Cherel, edited Deren's 1947–1951 footage she shot while in Haiti; this would result in the documentary '' Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti''.

Death

While in Haiti, Ito died of a heart attack in 1982.

Discography

*''Meshes: Music For Films and Theater'' (O.O. Discs) *''Music For Maya: Early Film Music Of Teiji Ito'' ( Tzadik Records, 2-CD set) *''King Ubu'' (Tzadik) *''The Shamanic Principles'' (Tzadik) *''Tenno'' (Tzadik) *''Watermill'' (Tzadik)

References

External links

*
Teiji Ito
Tzadik discs
The Teiji Ito papers
in th
Music Division
o
The New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsCollection of noncommercial recordings
from The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts {{DEFAULTSORT:Ito, Teiji 1935 births 1982 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century Japanese classical composers 20th-century Japanese male musicians American ballet composers American classical composers American classical musicians American contemporary classical composers American film score composers American male classical composers American male drummers American male film score composers American multi-instrumentalists American musical theatre composers American male musical theatre composers Avant-garde musicians Composers from Tokyo Contemporary classical music performers Experimental composers Haitian classical musicians Haitian drummers Japanese ballet composers Japanese classical musicians Japanese contemporary classical composers Japanese drummers Japanese expatriates in Haiti Japanese expatriates in the United States Japanese film score composers Japanese male classical composers Japanese multi-instrumentalists Japanese musical theatre composers Drummers from New York City Obie Award recipients Tzadik Records artists