is a prolific Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 composer.

She studied at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music

Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music

or is one of the oldest and most prestigious art schools in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju, Adachi, Tokyo...

 under Tomojiro Ikenouchi

Tomojiro Ikenouchi

was a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music and professor born in Tokyo, Japan. The son of a haiku poet, Ikenouchi traveled to Paris in 1927, where he studied composition with Henri Büsser and piano with Lazare Levy. His music is influenced by French Impressionist music...

, graduating in 1957. She subsequently went to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 where she studied with Henri Dutilleux

Henri Dutilleux

Henri Dutilleux is one of the most important French composers of the second half of the 20th century, producing work in the tradition of Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, and Albert Roussel, but in a style distinctly his own...

 and Alexander Tcherepnin

Alexander Tcherepnin

Alexander Nikolayevich Tcherepnin was a Russian-born composer and pianist. His father, Nikolai Tcherepnin and his son, Ivan Tcherepnin were also composers, as are two of his grandsons, Sergei and Stefan. His son Serge was involved in the roots of electronic music and instruments...

. After that she then returned to Japan to teach at the Osaka University of Music.

Between 1978 and 1999 she wrote 18 operas, many of them performed in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 by the Nihon Opera Kyokai or the Nikikai Opera. One work was performed in Italy. In general she has preferred Japanese subjects, however her second opera was about Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...

 and she composed an opera on Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...

for a large-scale production at the New National Theatre, Tokyo in 1999.

Operas

Operas by Kazuko Hara include:

• The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes (Confession) after Conan Doyle
  Conan Doyle
  Conan Doyle is a rugby player. His club is Garryowen. His usual position is inside centre, but he also plays out-half. He has made two appearances for Munster Rugby in the Magners League, but was released by Munster at the end of the 2008/2009 season. While at Munster he was selected for the...
  
   (1981)
• Iwai Uta ga Nagareru Yoruni (1984)
• Shita wo Kamikitta Onna (1986)
• Sute Hime (1989)
• Yosakoi Bushi (1990)
• Petro Kibe (1991)
• Tsumi to batsu (Crime and Punishment) after Dostoevsky (1999)

Sources

• Holledge, Simon. "Hara Kazuko: Crime and Punishment, 19th June 1999", Opera Japonica
• Biographical note for Daniel Quinn recital, accessed 20 January 2010