Biographies
Hubert Soudant ( Music Director)
 Hubert
Soudant was born in Maastricht. He won numerous prizes in several
international competitions, such as International Conductors Competition
of Karajan in Berlin, Competition of Cantelli in Milan, Concourse
International de Besancon.
Whether it is a concert or an opera, Hubert Soudant conducts
the most prestigious European orchestras such as, Berliner Philharmoniker,
the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra,
the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra,
Munich Philharmonic, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg
Radio Orchestra, Frankfurt Rundfunk Orchestra, Dresdner Staats
Kapelle, K.B.S. Symphony Orchestra of Seoul, Sydney Symphony Orchestra,
National Orchestra of Paris and the great part of the Italian
orchestras, like Orchestra of Scala Milan, Santa Cecilia in Rome
and many others. As an opera conductor he conducted operas at
de la Bastille, and at all Italian opera houses like Parma, Catania,
Palermo, Trieste and Bologna.
He participates also in international festivals, such as the Springtime
Festival of Prague, the Bruckner Festival of Linz, the Festival
of Salzburg, Wiener Festwochen, Mostly Mozart Festival in New
York, Spoleto Festival and Ravenna Festival.
Hubert Soudant was the principal guest conductor of Melbourne
Symphony Orchestra, and the Music Director of Radio France Nouvelle
Orchestra Philharmonique, Utrecht Symphony Orchestra, l'Orchestra
Toscanini of Parma, Orchestra National des Pays de la Loire and
the last 13 years for Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg. Since September
2004, he is the Music Director of Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in
Japan.
In the Mozart Week, 2003 he conducted "Cosi fan tutte"
in Salzburg Festival. He conducted also Jeanne D'arc au Bucher
of Honegger. For the opening of Italian opera season 2006, he
conducted "Don Giovanni" with Frano Zeffirelli as director.
In April/May 2006, at New National Theater in Tokyo he conducted
successfully "Titus" which was selected to be the best
opera performance of the year. At la Fenice in 2007, Hubert Soudant
conducted "Erwartung" and had success with ovation,
with which opera institution he continues working together.
He worked with the leading soloists, from Milstein till Vengerov,
Arrau till Kissin , Starker till Maisky.
He recorded Tchaikovsky symphonies no. 4, 5 and 6, Tchaikovsky
Violin concerto and Liszt Piano concertos for which he received
Grand Prix du disque from the Liszt Society in Budapest with London
Philharmonic Orchestra for Pye Records, Ravel Cantatas with the
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra for Rizzoli Records, Compositions of
French composers with French National Orchestra of des Pays de
la Loire for Forlan Records, Mozart from Salzburg, Bruckner Symphonies
no. 4 and 9, Beethoven piano Concertos no.1, 2, 3,4 and 5 with
Affanasiev and the Mozarteum Orchestra for Oehms Records
In July 2004, Hubert Soudant was honored by the city of Salzburg
for his outstanding achievement "The Ring of the city of
Salzburg" and "Golden Cross of Honor" from the
region of Salzburg.
In 2008, he will conduct some more productions at the opera house
in Venice and in Rome and for the first time he will conduct Shanghai
Symphony Orchestra.
Kazuyoshi Akiyama ( Laureate Conductor)
 Kazuyoshi
Akiyama began his musical life at the age of three studying the
piano under his mother, a highly regarded instructor in Tokyo. He
entered the piano department of Toho Gakuen School of Music, then
was strongly influenced by the conducting activities of one student,
Seiji Ozawa. Akiyama quickly changed to the conducting department
and was soon studying under Hideo Saito. In February 1974, a year
after graduating, Mr. Akiyama made his debut engagement with The
Tokyo Symphony. The tremendous success of this collaboration led
to his nomination for and acceptance of the dual post of Music Director
and Permanent Conductor just two months later, a position he maintained
for forty years. Since September 2004, he has been a Laureate Conductor.
Overseas, this artist's conducting successes began with U.S. and
Europe tours of the Toho Gakuen School of Music Orchestra. Maestro
Akiyama quickly went on to guest conduct ensembles including the
Toronto Symphony, American Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and
Vancouver Symphony Orchestras. He gained recognition in guest engagements
with the San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia
Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra and Boston
Symphony Orchestra. His reputation spread to Europe, and he was
invited there to conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cologne
Broadcast Symphony Orchestra, and Bayerisches Broadcast Orchestra.
Maestro Akiyama has since become a regular guest conductor to numerous
orchestras around orchestras around the world, particularly to major
orchestras in the United States.
His many professional posts have included Assistant Conductor of
the Toronto symphony Orchestra (1968-1969), Music Director of the
American Symphony Orchestra (1973-1978), and Music director of the
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (1972-1985). Maestro Akiyama was granted
the title of Conductor Laureate of the Vancouver symphony upon leaving
his post there in 1985. From 1985 to 1993, Maestro Akiyama held
the post of Music director to the Syracuse symphony Orchestra. He
is the recipient of numerous citations, including the Suntory Music
Award of 1975, the Kyoto Music Award of 1993, the 1995 Mainichi
Arts Award, the 1995 Arts Encouragement Prize of the Minister of
Education, and the 29th Suntory Music Award.
In 1991, Kazuyoshi Akiyama led The Tokyo Symphony in a successful
world tour to celebrate the orchestra's 45th anniversary which included
performances in New York at the United Nations, as well as in London
under the auspices of the United Kingdom's Japan Festival. More
recently, he commemorated his 30th year as Music Director and Permanent
Conductor of The Tokyo Symphony and also the orchestra's 400th subscription
performance in a 1994 concert-style performance of Schoenberg's
Moses and Aaron, the first Japan performance of that work with Japanese
artists. In 2001, he was awarded Medal with Purple Ribbon.
He also conducted lots of opera works, such as "The Little
Match Girl"(in concert-style; Japanese premiere)composed by
H.Lachenman, who is one of the most important composer in contemporary
music world, and "El nino " (Japanese premire)composed
by John AdamsAthe opera "Das Verrantene Meer" by H.W.Henze
(2004, in concert-style), and Janacek opera series; "The Cunning
Little Vixen"(1997, in concert-style), "Kata Kabanova"(2000,
semi-stagestyle), "From the House of the Death"(2003,
semi-stage style),
In addition to his position as Laureate Conductor with the Tokyo
Symphony, Maestro Akiyama has also acted as Music Director and Permanent
couductor of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra and Principal conductor
and Music Adviser of the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra.
Naoto Otomo ( Permanent Conductor)
 ...As
one of the leading conductors of his generation, Naoto Otomo regularly
conducts various orchestras in Japan. Otomo has held the post of
Permanent Conductor with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. His recent major
performances have included Mahler's Symphonies No.3 and No.9, Elgar's
Symphonies No.1 and No.1 and No.2, Walton's Symphony No.1, Messiaen's
Turangalila Symphony, the Symphonies of Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms,
Bernstein's Symphony No. 3, Sibelius' Kullervo Symphony, Berlioz's
La damnation de Faust and James MacMillan's Seven Last Words from
the Cross, among others.
Since 1992, Otomo and contemporary classical composer Shigeaki
Saegusa combined strengths to form the Japan Virtuoso Symphony Orchestra.
The ad hoc group consists of about 100 members from the ranks of
Tokyo's nine major orchestras and performs several times each year
in major cities throughout Japan. Broadcasts on NHK television and
radio, in addition to CD releases from Sony Music and Alfa Music
Records have put this ensemble on the map.
Otomo made his opera debut In November 1988 with Weber's Freischutz
to the enthusiastic acclaim of press and audiences alike. Following
this triumph, he continued with a succession of opera productions
including Gluck's Orfeo and Euridice with Tokyo's Nissay Arts Theater
(1990-1991); Verdi's Rigoletto, together with the Nikikai Opera
Foundation (1990-1992), and the Magic flute, as the first opera
performance to be staged at Aichi Prefectural Arts Theater (1992-1993).
The summer of the Kansai Nikikai Opera Company and Nissay Arts theater.
His 1997 season also included the world premiere performance of
Shigeaki Saegusa's Chushingura.
Otomo's career includes notable collaborations with a host of International
artists including: violinists Gil Shaham, Augustin Dumay, Frank
Peter Zimmermann, Joshua Bell, Shlomo Mintz, Regis Pasquier, and
Jean-Jacques Kantorow; violists Yuri Bashmet, Bruno Pasquier, and
Gerard Causse; Cellists Mario Brunello and David Geringas; pianists
Radu Lupu, Andre Watts, Stephen Kovacevich, bruno-Leonardo Gelber,
Ivan Moravec, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Cyprien Katsaris, Jean-Phillipe
Collard, Cristina Ortiz, Christian Ivaldi, Huseyin Sermet, Georges
Pludermacher, and Helene Grimaud; trumpeter Maurice Andre; soprano
Sumi Jo and tenor Jose Carreras. His successful partnerships with
these artists have resulted in requests for further collaboration.
Since his first recording at the age of 20, Otomo's wide repertory,
ranging from classical to contemporary works has been featured on
numerous other releases. The latest CD release is the music of BARTOK:
Concerto No. 3 for Piano and Orchestra, and BARTOK: Music for Strings,
Percussion and Celesta from French recording company Auvidis.
Born in Tokyo in 1958, Naoto Otomo attended the university affiliated
with the Toho Gakuen School of Music to study under leading Japanese
conductors including Seiji Ozawa, Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Morihiro Okabe,
and Tadaaki Otaka. His studies also took him to Tanglewood where
he worked with such eminent conductors as Andre Previn, Leonard
Bernstein, and Igor Markevitch, in addition to Seiji Ozawa.
At the age of 21, Naoto Otomo was named assistant conductor of
the NHK symphony Orchestra and made his debut with the orchestra
at the age of 22. After five years with the NHK Symphony Orchestra,
he held posts at the Japan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and the
Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra. He has held the post of Resident Conductor
of the Tokyo symphony Orchestra since 1991 and Principal Conductor
with the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra since 1994. Meanwhile, he led
several successful tours, traveling through Europe (Osaka Philharmonic,
1986; Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, 1994 and 1996), and Southeast Asia
(Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, 1988).
Norichika Iimori ( Resident Conductor)
 After
graduating from Toho Gakuen School of Music in 1986, Norichika Iimori
went to Berlin to continue his studies. Thereafter he received numerous
International conducting competitions. In 1989 he was sent by Japan's
Agency for Cultural affairs to study at the Bayerische Staatsoper
in Munich, where be served as an assistant to Professor Wolfgang
Sawallisch who was then the Staatsoper's music director.
In 1994 he became the Conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.
The same year he gave a concert tour of Portugal with the TokyoSymphony.
On the occasion of the orchestra's 50th anniversary in 1996, he
led it on a concert tour of Europe, including a performance in Munich
that received adulation from a German newspaper that commented "It
is likely that Iimori will become the subject of world attention."
His subscription concerts with the Tokyo Symphony have included
many especially memorable performances, such as Verdi's Requiem
performed on 30th January 1999.
Among the many top-class orchestra's to which Iimori has been invited
as guest conductor are the Moscow Radio symphony Orchestra, the
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Koln Radio Symphony Orchestra
and the Prague Symphony Orchestra. He was invited to the Opening
Concert of the Braunschweig Music Festival performed with the Sinfonieorchester
des Norddeutschen Rundfunks (Hanover), and also invited to the Subscription
Concert of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra in April and May
1999. It has been decided that he will be a GMD and Principal Conductor
of Wurttemberg Philharmony (Germany) from September 2001.
Currently, Iimori is a resident conductor of Tokyo symphony Orchestra,
a permanent conductor of the Osaka Opera House Orchestra, a conductor
of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra.
|
