YPAM

James Hullick is a leading composer, musician and sound artist who has presented his work worldwide, recently performing at the Sydney Opera House. James is CEO of JOLT Arts. James mentors many artists with disabilities including The Amplified Elephants. Holding a Doctorate from RMIT University, and taught by many leading composers (Felix Werder, James Tenney, and others), James has received many awards: i.e.: Michael Harvey Prize for Piano; Creative Australia Fellowship; McKenzie Fellowship University of Melbourne.

Noh singer. Ryoko Aoki holds a unique position in the field of Noh theatre as a female singer and performer. She has performed in several traditional Noh plays, historically the reserve of male actors. Above all, she is the pioneer of and inspiration for a new artistic form combining utai – traditional Noh recitation – with contemporary music. More than 55 works have been written for her by various composers including Peter Eötvös, Toshio Hosokawa, Stefano Gervasoni, José María Sánchez-Verdú, and Oliver Schneller.

JOLT is a production house for sonic, media and visual arts. Based in its own heritage venue in Melbourne Australia the JOLT was founded by composer James Hullick in 2008. Roughly 50% of JOLT's projects promote artists with disabilities. Since 2012 JOLT has presented regular events and festivals in Japan. 2024 has been a huge year for JOLT: presenting James Hullick and the BOLT Ensemble at the Sydney Opera House; Disruptive Critters at SIGGRAPH Denver; and Hagoromo with Noh artist Ryoko Aoki and The Amplified Elephants (artists with disabilities) at ISEA Brisbane.

Yasutaka Hemmi (Violin)
Yoshu Kamei (Violin)
Takahiro Yasuda (Viola)
Aki Kitajima (Violoncello)

Born in Kyoto, in 1981, he studied at the Aichi University of the Arts, the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris with Stefano Gervasoni and Cursus I in the IRCAM. He received numerous prizes and rewards such as 36th Irino Prize, 1st prize in the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award, the 28th Akutagawa Composition Award, and the 66th Otaka Prize. He was supported by the scholarships of the Sacem and of the Rohm Music Foundation. His music has been performed in Europe, Asia, North and South America, and programed in prestigious festivals and projects such as the Takefu International Music Festival as invited composer, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Suntory Summer Festival, World Saxophone Congress, Festival Musica in Strasbourg, the International Music Festival of Rima, and Voix Nouvelles in Royaumont. He received diverse commissions by eminent organizations and musiciens such as French Ministry of Culture, France Musique, Suntory Fondation for the Arts, Takefu International Music Festival, Ensemble Cairn, Ensemble Nomad, Les Percussions de Strasbourg among others. He was the composer in residence at the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra and Ensemble Écoute in Paris.