Joe Hisaishi started to show an interest in minimalist music while he was studying at the Kunitachi College of Music. His career as a solo artist began with release of Mkwaju in 1981 and Information in 1982. Since then, Hisaishi has released nearly 40 solo albums. The CD Symphonic Celebration, released on Deutsche Grammophon in June 2023, twice hit No. 1 on the US Billboard Classical Albums & Classical Crossover Albums Chart.
Starting with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Hisaishi has produced music for Hayao Miyazaki films, including My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and The Boy and the Heron (2023). He has collaborated on the music production of more than 80 films at home and abroad, and his works have won many awards including several recognitions for Outstanding Achievement in Music from the Japan Academy Film Prize.
In 2004, he took on the position of principal music director of the New Japan Philharmonic World Dream Orchestra. Since 2014, he has been working as a producer and conductor, holding contemporary music concerts called Joe Hisaishi Presents Music Future. He also started to lead a concert series called Future Orchestra Classics in 2019. In recent years, Hisaishi has also conducted classical music and composed contemporary works such as Symphony No. 2 (2021), Metaphysica (Symphony No. 3) (2021) and Viola Saga for Orchestra (2023).
He has collaborated with a wide range of artists including Philip Glass, David Lang, Mischa Maisky, and orchestras such as the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony, Singapore Symphony, London Symphony, American Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, and Vienna Symphony Orchestra, among others. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with this program.
Hisaishi was awarded the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon in 2009 and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, in 2023 from the Japanese government. He is music partner with the New Japan Philharmonic, principal guest conductor with the Japan Century Orchestra, and composer in association of Royal Philharmonic. He is the music director designate with Japan Century Symphony, taking up the post in April 2025.