CLAVECIN

Tetsu Isaji

Tetsu Isaji (1997–) is a harpsichordist and researcher. He received early musical training at the keyboard in Tokyo before taking up the oboe in London, which he played professionally until 2020. He entered the world of early keyboards through UK collections of antique keyboard instruments, which led him to combine performance and research during his studies at Oxford (BA) and Cambridge (MPhil). He has performed as a harpsichordist and clavichordist in France, Belgium, and the UK. He was awarded “Primo Premio” (First Prize) at the Wanda Landowska Festival and Competition in Puglia (2023). He has made appearances as a harpsichordist and continuo-player in venues such as Théâtre National du Luxembourg, Flagey (Brussels), and Foyer de l’Âme (Paris), most notably for a recorded programme of compositions by Anna Meredith and Max Richter, and one of the final runs of a twenty-year cycle of Bach cantatas. He completed his studies with F. Haas and P. Zanzu at the Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles in 2024 with the greatest distinction, and recently received a full scholarship from the Royal Conservatory of the Hague where he is now undertaking further research into performance practice with C. Cerasi and P. Ayrton.

He has also benefited from masterclasses with B. Alard, P. Hantaï, B. Kuijken, and coaching from S. Kuijken. His current research interests lie in the harpsichords of Antoine Vater, and historical harpsichord regulation, a topic on which he delivered a paper in Bologna (2023) and in The Hague (2024). He is the artistic director of Komorebi Consort, an ensemble which began its journey with the “Johannes-Passion” in March 2024, and is keen to cultivate a text-centric approach to church music and to revive eighteenth-century models of ensemble directing.