In my research I conduct fieldwork in queer communities, mainly in Vienna, and create documentary music theatre from it. Documentary music theatre is music-driven documentary theatre where the work is composed from factual material (e.g. interviews) and expressed through the use of music. For example, I use performance forms like opera. My music theatre is also closely linked to queer culture through the use of drag performances, such as Drag Queen or - King.
I was motivated to apply for the Monbukagakusho scholarship because I needed to live in Austria and study the current queer community in order to conduct this research. During my fieldwork I mainly observed gestures and behaviours in gay (or queer) bars and clubs where queers gather and also conducted interviews. Currently, I am researching how the act of dancing empowers queer people. In addition to pure research, I also give presentations on campus as well as on posters and I am writing a dissertation under the guidance of a supervisor at Anton Bruckner Private University. In addition, we are currently creating a play and preparing it for the premiere in Linz.
The Austrian winters are very cold and I usually work alone at home, which often depresses me. However, participating in the activities organised by the OeAD and exchanging ideas with other scholars has been very encouraging. I am Japanese, so of course I am a minority here in Austria. However, the contact with people of a completely different ethnicity and origin has given me the feeling that I am not alone, and I can now continue my research here. In the meantime, I feel much stronger than I did back then in Japan.
As a researcher, this scholarship is a great gateway for my future career, as many musicologists I respect have studied in Vienna with this scholarship. In the future, I will use what I have learned in Austria to organise concerts in Japan and Europe and give lectures at conferences. And I will continue to work to become a researcher and artist who can play an active role in the world.
CV:
Wataru MUKAI (b.1993) is a Japanese composer, pianist and performer. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree with distinction as top of his class in composition from Tokyo University of the Arts (2016). He has won numerous international composition competitions, including 1st place at the 8th NEW NOTE International Composition Competition (Croatia, 2019), the German Federal President's Prize at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition (Berlin, 2018), 2nd place and Audience Prize at the 86th Music Competition of Japan (Tokyo, 2017), and the Ataka Music Prize (Tokyo, 2015).
He has received grants from the Tokuji Munetsugu Music Foundation (2016), the Kuma Foundation (2018-19), the Rohm Music Foundation (2019-21), the OeAD (2021-22), and the Nomura Foundation (2021-22). His works have been performed by numerous ensembles and performers, and were also selected for the 44th Samobor Music Festival, the 49th Darmstadt Summer Courses and the Suntory Hall Summer Festival 2017.
He studied in the Master's programme for composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Mannheim with Sidney Corbett and Philipp Ludwig Stangl. In addition to his orchestral and chamber music, he has produced a number of theatre works on queer, socially disadvantaged and other social minorities. In 2019, he studied in the Master's programme for Théâtre musical at the Bern University of the Arts with Stefan Wirth, Simon Steen-Andersen, and Angela Körfer-Bürger. Wataru MUKAI is currently doing his doctorate at the Anton Bruckner Private University. You can listen to his compositions here.