Asian composers for kids: ten to know

These ten composers come from Japan, China, South Korea, and India. Some wrote for the concert hall, some for films, and one wrote the first tunes that many young violinists learn. Each has a piece here that a child can enjoy on the first try.

Asian Heritage Month is May in Canada. In the United States, May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The list works in any month.

Ten composers

1. Shinichi Suzuki (1898 to 1998), Japan. He was a violinist and teacher. He believed any child can learn music the way children learn to speak. He wrote the “Twinkle” variations and several of the first pieces in his violin books. Play first: “Perpetual Motion.” Listen for: quick, even notes that never stop. Read the Suzuki method explained.

2. Tōru Takemitsu (1930 to 1996), Japan. He taught himself to compose, and he wrote for concert halls and for films. His music is quiet and full of color, and many of his pieces are about gardens, water, and rain. Play first: “Rain Tree Sketch” for piano. Listen for: the long silences between the notes.

3. Joe Hisaishi (born 1950), Japan. He has written the music for the films of Hayao Miyazaki. Orchestras around the world now give whole concerts of it. Play first: the main theme from My Neighbor Totoro. Read Joe Hisaishi for kids.

4. He Zhanhao (born 1933) and Chen Gang (born 1935), China. They wrote one famous piece together while they were students in Shanghai in 1958 and 1959. The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto tells an old Chinese story of two young people who cannot marry and are turned into butterflies. Play first: the opening five minutes. Listen for: the solo violin, which slides between notes the way a singer in Chinese opera does.

5. Tan Dun (born 1957), China and the United States. He grew up in a village in China and now lives in New York. He writes for orchestras and for films, and he uses water, paper, and stones as instruments. Play first: a movement of the Water Concerto. Watch for: the soloist, who splashes and taps bowls of water.

6. Chen Yi (born 1953), China and the United States. She is a violinist and composer who mixes Chinese folk tunes with the sounds of a Western orchestra. Play first: one of her Chinese Ancient Dances. Listen for: tunes that sound like Chinese folk songs.

7. Unsuk Chin (born 1961), South Korea. She lives in Germany and writes bright, glittering music for orchestras. She turned Alice in Wonderland into an opera in 2007. Play first: a scene from the opera. Listen for: odd sounds for an odd world.

8. Ravi Shankar (1920 to 2012), India. He played the sitar, a long-necked string instrument, and he brought the classical music of India to listeners around the world. He wrote concertos for sitar and orchestra. Play first: the opening of a sitar concerto. Listen for: the buzz and shimmer of the sitar’s strings.

9. Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952 to 2023), Japan. He was a pianist who wrote pop songs, film scores, and quiet piano pieces. Play first: “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” on piano. Listen for: a simple tune that repeats and grows.

10. Koji Kondo (born 1961), Japan. He wrote the music for the first Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda games. Orchestras now play it. Read video game music and the orchestra.

More names to hear

• Reena Esmail, an Indian American composer who brings Indian classical singing into choirs and orchestras
• Zhou Long, a Chinese American composer of operas and orchestra pieces
• Isang Yun, a Korean composer who worked in Germany
• Alexina Louie, a Canadian composer whose family came from China. Read Alexina Louie for kids.

Sounds to listen for

Sound	What it is	Hear it in
Five-note scales	Tunes made from five notes, like the black keys of a piano	The Butterfly Lovers
Slides between notes	A voice or a string that bends from one note to the next	The Butterfly Lovers
Silence	Long gaps that are part of the music	Takemitsu
Drone	One low note held under a tune	Ravi Shankar

Try the five-note scale at a piano. Play only the black keys, in any order. It will sound like a tune.

Instruments to look up

• Erhu: a Chinese fiddle with two strings
• Pipa: a Chinese lute shaped like a pear
• Koto: a long Japanese zither with 13 strings
• Sitar: a string instrument from India with a long neck
• Tabla: a pair of small drums from India
• Gayageum: a Korean zither

Things to do together

• Find each country. Mark the composers on a map.
• Tell the butterfly story. Draw the two butterflies at the end of the concerto. For the holiday, read Lunar New Year music for kids.
• Make water music. Fill bowls with water and tap, pour, and splash in rhythm, as Tan Dun’s soloist does.
• Make cards. Print composer cards and add a flag to each.
• Put them in order. Place them on the composer timeline.

For more lists, read living composers kids can hear today, Hispanic and Latin American composers for kids, and women composers for kids. All the composer pages are in classical composers for kids: a guide by era.

Sources

Checked in November 2026. These sources cover entries 3 to 8.

• All Classical Radio. The Butterfly Lovers Concerto.
• All Classical Radio. Six AANHPI composers we’re celebrating on air.
• Colorado Symphony. 7 AANHPI composers to know.
• Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Celebrating Asian Heritage Month.
• The Cleveland Orchestra. Cross-cultural collaborations: East Asian composers and The Cleveland Orchestra.
• University of North Carolina, Department of Music. A drop in the bucket.