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 Resident Conductor with The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra since 1991. 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).
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THE TOKYO SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA E-mail:tokyosymphony@musicinfo.com |