Kenta Ikeda

IKEDA Kenta

TimpaniAssistant Principal

A Naniwa native born and raised in Osaka.

Graduated from the Music Department of Osaka Prefectural Yuhigaoka High School and Osaka Kyoiku University.
After working with the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra, he joined the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in 2023.
He studied under Toru Kitano, Hideaki Otake, Yasuo Kotani, Yoshimasa Horiuchi, and Yannick Paget.

Iwaki Award at the 32nd Japan Percussion Association Newcomer Concert.
2nd place in the percussion category at the 34th Japan Wind and Percussion Instrument Competition.

Member of the percussion group 72.
I love wild birds🐦

What made you start playing an instrument?	When I was little, my mother took me to the Yamaha Music School. I wasn't very good at piano, but I remember having fun playing the drums. After that, I joined the brass band in junior high school. Of course, I played percussion. I loved marching and wanted to compete in a competition in the US in the future. In high school and university, I specialized in percussion while also joining the choir. At times, I was in four choirs at the same time, and I was so focused on practicing singing that I neglected percussion practice. But somehow, I ended up loving percussion the most, and I aimed to join an orchestra, which is where I am today.
What is important in a performance	The sounds of percussion instruments are often called noise, which has no pitch and is similar to environmental noise, but I place importance on how to make them into music.
One of my favorite songs	Debussy: Island of Joy This piano piece, inspired by Watteau's painting "The Voyage to Cythera," beautifully depicts the shining sun on the Aegean Sea, the gentle waves, the rocking boat, the sparkling spray, and the calm sea...the exhilaration of pilgrimage and the emotion of seeing a sacred place before your eyes are so vividly depicted that it feels almost real. I first heard this piece when I was in high school, and I remember strongly wanting to play it someday. Unfortunately, my piano skills are not that great, so I arranged it for percussion and performed it several times. Apparently, there is an orchestral arrangement of this piece supervised by Debussy himself, and although I don't seem to have many opportunities to perform it, I would like to perform it someday.

What made you start playing an instrument?

When I was little, my mother took me to the Yamaha Music School. I wasn't very good at piano, but I remember having fun playing the drums. After that, I joined the brass band in junior high school. Of course, I played percussion. I loved marching and wanted to compete in a competition in the US in the future. In high school and university, I specialized in percussion while also joining the choir. At times, I was in four choirs at the same time, and I was so focused on practicing singing that I neglected percussion practice. But somehow, I ended up loving percussion the most, and I aimed to join an orchestra, which is where I am today.

What is important in a performance

The sounds of percussion instruments are often called noise, which has no pitch and is similar to environmental noise, but I place importance on how to make them into music.

One of my favorite songs

Debussy: Island of Joy

This piano piece, inspired by Watteau's painting "The Voyage to Cythera," beautifully depicts the shining sun on the Aegean Sea, the gentle waves, the rocking boat, the sparkling spray, and the calm sea...the exhilaration of pilgrimage and the emotion of seeing a sacred place before your eyes are so vividly depicted that it feels almost real. I first heard this piece when I was in high school, and I remember strongly wanting to play it someday. Unfortunately, my piano skills are not that great, so I arranged it for percussion and performed it several times. Apparently, there is an orchestral arrangement of this piece supervised by Debussy himself, and although I don't seem to have many opportunities to perform it, I would like to perform it someday.

Kenta Ikeda

Timpani

About the Japan Philharmonic