Hitomi Oba - Part 4

For Good Measure

For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)
Episode 159: Hitomi Oba - Part 4

In this week’s episode, we talk to Hitomi Oba about her influences, mentors, the crossover between her jazz and classical training, and her compositional process. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Hitomi Oba, check her out here: https://www.hitomioba.com/. This episode was originally recorded in December 2023.

This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors, like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!
Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Below the Surface: Music by Women Composers,” January 29, 2022
Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Alchemy,” October 15, 2021
Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.
Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903729/episodes/17156319
Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness
Co-producer and Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann
Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes
Interns: Renata Volchinskaya, Sam Mason

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Chapters

1. Hitomi Oba - Part 4 (00:00:00)

2. In this week's episode, we continue our conversation with Hitomi Oba, who we spoke to in December 2023. (00:00:22)

3. How does your classical versus jazz background translate into your compositions? Do you find yourself pulled more to classical or jazz, or does it feel like you're living in the space between the two? (00:00:30)

4. How did you find your voice as a composer, and what is your compositional process? (00:05:15)

5. Well, that leads to, where do you get your concepts, ideas and inspirations? How do you get them, or do they just kind of arrive in your mind's ear once you know who you're writing for, or etc? (00:07:46)

6. The purest definition of music is sound in time, right? And what keeps coming up for you, as we're talking is the time, the x-axis, if you want to think about it that way. (00:09:18)

7. You've talked about how important your mentors are. Who are some of the mentors you've had, either in music or out of music, and while we're at it, what composers, musical styles, drummers have had an influence on you as a composer or musician? (00:09:36)