Keiichiro Shibuya
Keiichiro Shibuya (born 1973) is a Japanese composer, musician, and artist based in Tokyo and Paris. He graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts Department of Composition. His work encompasses cutting-edge electronic music, piano solos, operas, film scores, and sound installations. He challenges the boundaries between humans and technology and life and death through his compositions and collaborations with artists and scientists. In 2002, he founded the music label ATAK, working on live performances and recorded music.
In 2012, Shibuya composed his first opera called vocaloid opera THE END, starring Hatsune Miku. He composed this opera entirely with computer-generated audio and visuals. The performance, with costumes by Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs, premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and has since toured worldwide until 2018. In 2014, he collaborated with Hiroshi Sugimoto for a concert at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. In 2016, with “Parade for The End of The World”, he embarked on a modern production of Parade, recreating the collaborations of Satie, Picasso and Cocteau. He also performed at Paris Opera Garnier with Jérémie Bélingard (Dance) and Adrien M & Claire B(Video) in 2017.
After, he created a new form of android opera, working with an AI-equipped humanoid whose programming allows it to sing to and conduct Shibuya’s original music. In 2018, Shibuya premiered his collaboration with the android in an opera, Scary Beauty, in which the android sings while conducting an orchestra. This opera was staged in Japan, Germany, and the UAE. In 2021, he was commissioned to compose the opera Super Angels, which stars the android accompanied by human opera singers, ballet dancers, and a full orchestra at the New National Theatre, Tokyo. In March 2022, Shibuya composed and performed the android opera MIRROR for Expo 2020 Dubai, collaborating with Buddhist monks and an orchestra. In June 2023, a full 70-minute version of this opera, MIRROR, premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. In June 2024, it returned to Tokyo to premiere MIRROR.
Shibuya is also an award-winning composer of film scores. In 2020 and 2021, he was recognized at the 75th Mainichi Film Awards and received the 30th Japan Movie Critics Award for the film Midnight Swan. In 2022, he composed a soundtrack for the film xxxHOLiC. He also composed a soundtrack for the short film KAGUYA BY GUCCI, which was GUCCI’s global campaign. In February 2025, he composed new music, including the main theme for the NHK 100th anniversary program called NHK SPECIAL “ON THE EDGE” a new documentary series.
In recent years, he has presented the sound installation called Abstract Music and exhibited at events such as PRADA MODE TOKYO in 2023, LEXUS BEYOND THE HORIZON at the Milan Design Week in 2024, and Google Pixel Kyoto in 2025.
