Teiji Ito

was a Japanese-born American composer and performer. He is best known for his scores for the avant-garde films by Maya Deren. Early life Ito was born in Tokyo, Japan to a theatrical family. His mother, Teiko Ono, was a dancer and his father, Yuji Ito, was a designer and composer. His younger brother Teimoc Johnston-Ono is an Olympic judoka. His family moved to the United States in 1941 when he was six. Ito accompanied his mother’s dance performance at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City; he performed for both Japanese and Korean dance. At 15, he ran away from home. He began to compose at age 17. He met Maya Deren during this time and in 1955, traveled with her to Haiti. There, Ito studied under a master drummer. Ito would also compose the score for Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon at Deren’s request. Ito also performed and composed for Jean Erdman’s Theater of the Open Eye. Death While in Haiti, Ito died of a heart attack in 1982. Discography *Meshes: Music For Films and Theater (O.O. Discs) *Music For Maya: Early Film Music Of Teiji Ito (Tzadik Records, 2-CD set) *King Ubu (Tzadik) *The Shamanic Principles (Tzadik) *Tenno (Tzadik) *Watermill (Tzadik) References