Women Composing

a celebration through the centuries to the present


Ushio Torikai (born 1952)

Ushio Torikai was born in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Her influences include western music, traditional and ancient Japanese music, and Buddhist chant. She has composed for western ensembles and instruments, choruses, Japanese instruments, and electronics.

Very little of Ushio Torikai’s music is available on YouTube. One exception is this live performance of FourTEEN for string quartet, which utilizes a great range of string timbres, and in which we can also hear suggestions of Japanese string instruments.