広島交響楽団

Christian Arming/Conductor

Music Director of the Liege Royal Philharmonic Orchestra since 2011, Christian Arming previously held the same post at the New Japan Philharmonic, the Lucerne Theatre and Symphony Orchestra, and was Chief Conductor of the Janáček Philharmonic. In 2017, he became Principal Guest Conductor of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra.
Since conducting the Czech Philharmonic at the Prague Spring Festival in 2003, he has conducted top European orchestras including Dresden Staatskapelle, Deutsches Sinfonieorchester, Salzburg Mozarteum, Vienna Symphony, Swiss Romande, Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Capitole de Toulouse orchestras. In North America, he has conducted Boston, Cincinnati, Houston and Vancouver Symphony orchestras, and in Asia, the NHK, Shanghai Symphony, Taiwan and Malaysian Philharmonic orchestras, among others. His work has also won many supporters in the operatic world.
Christian Arming was born in Vienna and studied conducting under Leopold Hager at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Seiji Ozawa has also been a mentor and strong supporter of his career.
In 2017/2018, he debuted with Saint Louis and Atlanta Symphony orchestras, and returned to the Aspen Music Festival and Prague Radio Symphony. 2018/2019 highlights include his return to the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, and opera “Carmen” with Seiji Ozawa Music Academy in March 2019.

Martha Argerich/Piano

Martha Argerich was born in Buenos Aires (Argentina). She began her first piano lessons with Vincenzo Scaramuzza. Considered a child prodigy, she soon performs in public. In 1955, she moved to Europe and continued her studies in London, Vienna and in Switzerland with Seidlhofer, Gulda, Magaloff, Mrs Lipatti and Stefan Askenase. In 1957, she won the Bolzano and Geneva Piano Competitions, and in 1965 the Warsaw International Chopin Competition.
Martha Argerich has been rated highly for her performance of the virtuoso piano literature of the 19th and 20th centuries. Her large repertoire includes Bach and Bartok, Beethoven and Messiaen, as well as Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel, Franck, Prokofiev, Stravinski, Shostakovitch, Tchaikovski.
Though she is permanently invited by the most prestigious orchestras, conductors and music festivals in Europe, Japan and America, chamber music takes a significant part of her musical life. She regularly plays and records with pianists Nelson Freire and Alexandre Rabinovitch, cellist Mischa Maisky and violonist Gidon Kremer : “This harmony within a group of people gives me a strong and peaceful feeling”.
Martha Argerich has recorded for EMI, Sony, Philips, Teldec, DGG etc. and she has received many awards
Since 1998 she is the Artistic Director of the Beppu Festival in Japan; in 1999 she creates the International Piano Competition and Festival Martha Argerich in Buenos Aires, and in June 2002 the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano.In 2018 Argerich Festival started in Hamburg.
The live recording from her concerts in Tokyo “Martha Argerich Celebrations 2010” has been released for the charity purpose for supporting the victims in Tohoku area.
In August 2015,Martha Argerich was invited to perform with Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the 70th anniversary of A-bomb attack on Hiroshima. After this successful concert, she has been appointed as Peace & Music Ambassador of Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra followed by Hiroshima Peace Prize( 2016 ) and Hiroshima Cultural Ambassador ( 2019 ).

Soichi Sakuma/Violin

Born in Yamagata Prefecture in 1982. Beginning with a violin from an early age, he went to Toho Gakuen University from Yamagata Higashi High School through the Sendai Branch, a music class for children at Toho Gakuen.
While at Toho Gakuen, he became a contract member of the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, and later became the principal player of the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra. After leaving Osaka Philharmonic in March 2012, went to Germany. In addition to studying under professor Wolf Schneider in Hannover, he has made a guest performance in the Deutsch Kammer Philharmonie Bremen. In April 2014, he became Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra and First Concert Master.
Appears in many chamber music concerts every year, mainly in the “Subaru 21 String Quartet”, as well as major domestic music events such as the “Spring Festival in Tokyo”. Invited to various music festivals.
Received the 23rd Kirishima International Music Festival Special Encouragement Award (Suntory Award) and Excellent Performance Award.

Martin Stanzeleit/Violoncello

Martin Stanzeleit was born 1971 in Bamberg, Germany. He started to play the cello at the age of five. At the age of 14, he entered the Folkwang University of Music in Essen, Germany, to study with Reiner Hochmuth and later with Young-Chang Cho, taking his exam with honors. He further studied with Janos Starker, Siegfried Palm and Heinrich Schiff.
He was awarded a scholarship by the Richard-Wagner-Foundation, further he won first prize at the Folkwang-Competetion in Essen. As a soloist, he appeared, among others, with the Filharmonia Georges Enescu in Bucharest, the Sliven Philharmonic Orchestra in Bulgaria and the Hagen Chamber Orchestra in Germany.
Between 1995 and 1998, Martin Stanzeleit was a member of the Royal Danish Orchestra. In 1998, Martin Stanzeleit became the principal cellist of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra in Japan. Various solo appearances followed since, together with conductors like Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Tatsuya Shimono and Norichika Iimori.
In 2010, Martin Stanzeleit published his debut CD at the Exton Label in Japan, with works by Rachmaninov and Bridge, to enthusiastic reviews. One year later, he received the “ Bunka Shoreisho”, a special culture award by the Shinkin Bank of Hiroshima.
Since then, Martin Stanzeleit has broadened his activities by producing the musical comedy group “ Crazy Classix” as well as Japan’s first cello rock group “ Canthana”, which launched its debut CD “ Cellmate” in 2013, followed by “ A Minor Attitude” in 2015.

Maki Mori/Soprano

Maki Mori studied at Tokyo University of the Arts and its graduate school, at the Opera Studies Center of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and also in Milan and Munich.
She was recognized as one of the winners of Plácido Domingo’s World Opera Competition 1998 (Hamburg) and of the International Singing Competition Orfeo 2000 (Hanover).
She has performed at the Washington National Opera as Blonde in Die Entfürung aus dem Serail , Gilda in Rigoletto , Blumen Mädchen in Parsifal, Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann , and Adele in Die Fledermaus, and for these performances she received critical acclaim from the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal and won the S&R Foundation’s Washington Award.
Mori had great successes in Der Rosenkavalier at Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden in 2007, in Rinaldo at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2009, and in La Bohème at Teatro Regio di Torino in 2010, as well as in a recital in Washington, D.C. in 2012.
She performs widely with many renowned orchestras, and is acclaimed everywhere she performs for her beautiful voice, with its outstanding coloratura technique and deep musicality. One of Japan’s representative singers, Maki Mori has achieved remarkable success internationally.

Mika Kaneko/Mezzo-Soprano

The Japanese mezzosoprano Mika Kaneko studied at Tokyo Colledge of Music, Mozarteum Salzburg and Opera Institute, where she awarded the second prize. After her winning of several singing competitons, she made her operatic debut as Grimgerde(Die Walküre) under the button of Taijiro Iimori at Tokyo Nikikai Opera Theatre in 2008. Since then she has appeared on the stage of the subscription concert of New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra “Der Rosenkavalier” (conducted by Christian Arming), Nikikai New Wave Opera Theatre “Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria” as Penelope. In 2010 she sang the highly acclaimed role of Emilia(Otello) under the lead of Roberto Rizzi Brignoli at Tokyo Nikikai Opera Theatre, Baba(The Medium) and Miss Todd(The Old Maid and the Thief) at Yokosuka Arts Theatre.
In recent years she has focused on the works of Wagner: Grimgerde(Die Walküre) at New National Theatre Tokyo, Frosshilde(Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung), Schwertleite(Die Walküre), Erste Norn(Erste Norn) at Tokyo Opera Nomori.
Kaneko has repeatedly shown her worth at New National Theatre Tokyo, where was guest with a number of operas including Das Rheingold, Die Walküre and Carmen.
In the 2017/18 season she sung third lady(Die Zauberflöte) and third wood sprite(Rusalka) at Nissay Theatre，and Brangäne(Tristan und Isolde),and Erda(Siegfried).
And she debut as Grimgerde(Die Walküre) under the button of Placido Domingo atBayreuther-festspiele. Since then she has been guest with a number of companies including New National Theatre Tokyo, Tokyo Opera Nomori, Nissay Theatre.
Furthermore, Kaneko is also much in demand in many concerts for example Beehtoven’s ninth symphony and Missa Solemunis,Verdi’s Requiem,Mozart’s Requiem,and Messiah by Händel and closely working with many stellar conductors including Seiji Ozawa, Marek Janowski, Pascal Verrot. In addition, she has collaborated with Singverein de,r Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien. In next season she make her role debut as Sesto( Giulio Cesare).
She is a member of the Nikikai.

Satoshi Nishimura/Tenor

Satoshi Nishimura graduated from Nihon University College of Art, and received a Master’s degree from Tokyo University of the Arts.
He won Second Prize at the Riccardo Zandonai International Competition for Young Singers, and First Prize at the Music Competition of Japan.
In 2016, Nishimura made his European debut with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kazushi Ono. He has appeared in operas such as La Traviata, Madama Butterfly, Un Ballo in Maschera, Das Rheingold, and The Magic Flute.

Takaoki Ohnishi/Bariton

Graduated from the University and Graduate School of Musashino Academia Musicae. Winner of Student Music Coucours of Japan, and Gold Prize and Baritone Special Prize at the Concorso di Lirica Italiana. Soon after, won the first prize of IFAC Julliard Prize Singing Competition which provided him a full scholarship and special award to attend the Julliard School, making him one of the few Japanese to major in Vocal Arts there. Upon his graduation from the Julliard School, he was given a Special Award and scholarship for his outstanding activities as a student. He has also studied in Academies in Italy, Germany and Switzerland.
In 2015, he made his professional American debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago with the role of Father Arguedas in the world premiere of “Bel Canto” which was highly praised by the international newspapers and the classical music press. From 2015, he became a member of the Ryan Opera Center of the Lyric Opera of Chicago for three years and have appeared in many productions such as “Eugene Onegin”, “Les pêcheurs de perles(The Pearl Fishers)”, and “Carmen” among others.
In January 2019, he sang in “Carmen” at the North Carolina Opera and in 2020, will return to sing in “Pagliacci”. He will also make appearance at the Opera Philadelphia in “Madame Butterfly”. In February 2019, he sang as soloist for the “Kullervo Symphony” with the Oratorio Society of New York at the Carnegie Hall and in 2020 will return to sing with them in “A German Requiem”. His continued active engagements in Japan and around the world is much anticipated.
Takaoki Onishi received the 30th Gotoh Memorial Cultural Award given to the most promising young talent in Opera.

Website https://www.takaokionishi.com/

Ritsuyukai Choir/Chorus

Ritsuyukai is consisted of 12 choirs <4 mixed choirs, 6 female choirs and 2 male choirs> and directed by Mr. Kuriyama. They have individually concerts, recording and concert tours. Ritsuyukai co-worked mainly with New Japan Philharmonic orchestra conducted by Christian Arming, Daniel Harding etc. and performed G.Mahler “Symphonie der Tausend”, Verdi “Requiem”, Britten “War Requiem”, Hydn “The Seasons”, Brahms “Ein deutsches Requiem”etc.

Website http://www.ritsuyukai.com/

HIROSHIMA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra (HSO) started as ‘Hiroshima Civic Symphony Orchestra’ in 1963. The orchestra was renamed the current name in 1970. Since becoming a professional orchestra in 1972, HSO is trying to send the peace message by music,as the Orchestra of Hiroshima, the International Peace Memorial City.

Profile

Past Concert Artists

2016
2017
2018
2019

Kazuyoshi Akiyama (Conductor)

Born in 1941, Kazuyoshi Akiyama studied conducting under Hideo Saito at the Toho Gakuen School of Music.

Akiyama has held prestigious posts such as Music Director of the American Symphony Orchestra (1973-1978) and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (1972-1985). During this time, Akiyama’s reputation spread to Europe and throughout North America, where he has been invited to conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the NDR Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and many others.

He is the recipient of numerous highly prestigious honors in Japan including the Person of Cultural Merit (2014) for his outstanding cultural contributions.

Akiyama currently holds the title of Conductor Laureate at the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, as well as other positions with several Japanese orchestras.
He has also been acting as Permanent Conductor and Music Director of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra since 1998.

In 2014, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his conducting career.

Charles Richard-Hamelin (Piano)

Silver medalist and laureate of the Krystian Zimerman award of the best sonata at the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015, Charles Richard-Hamelin is standing out as one of the most important pianists of his generation. He also won the second prize at the Montreal International Musical Competition and the third prize and special award for the best performance of a Beethoven sonata at the Seoul International Music Competition in South Korea. In April 2015, he was awarded the prestigious Career Development Award offered by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto.

He has appeared in various prestigious festivals including the Prague Spring Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron in France, “Chopin and his Europe” Festival in Warsaw and the Lanaudière Festival in Canada. As a soloist, he has performed with various ensembles including the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra, Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, OFUNAM (Mexico), Korean Symphony Orchestra and I Musici de Montréal.

Originally from Lanaudière in Québec, Charles Richard-Hamelin studied with Paul Surdulescu, Sara Laimon, Boris Berman and André Laplante. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in performance from McGill University in 2011 and a master’s degree from the Yale School of Music in 2013 and received full scholarships in both institutions. He also completed an Artist Diploma program at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal in 2016 and currently takes lessons on a regular basis with pianist Jean Saulnier. His first solo CD, which features late works by Chopin, was released on the Analekta label in September 2015 and received widespread acclaim from critics throughout the world (Diapason, BBC Music Magazine, Le Devoir).

Invited musicians from the international Orchestra

Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra

Violin
Stanisław Podemski

Flute

Andrzej Krzyżanowski

ORCHESTRE SYMPHONIQUE DE MONTRÉAL

Contrabass
Ali Yazdanfar

Horn

John Zirbel

To spread “Music for Peace” action over the world, HSO invite journalists form abroad and domestic.

■Robert Markow (Montreal, Canada)

■Robert Cezary Pagacz (Warsaw, Poland/ Canada)

■Janusz Marynowski (Warsaw, Poland)

■Yukiko Hagiya (Japan)
Volkhard Steude（ solo Violin/Concertmaster ）

Volkhard STEUDE （violin） was born in 1971 and began violin studies from 5 years of age at the Konservatorium Cottbus in Brandenburg in the former East German Democratic Republic. In 1987 he placed second in the East German youth competition and from 1988 began his higher education at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin under the tutelage of Joachim Scholz and Professor Werner Scholz, during which he won a number of international competitions.

In 1993 he became the first concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and after acquiring his Diplom degree in Berlin in March 1994, continued his studies in Vienna under Professor Alfred Staar.In November 1994 Volkhard Steude was appointed concertmaster of the Orchesters der Wiener Staatsoper, and in 2000 was also named concertmaster of the Wiener Philharmoniker.

As a soloist, he has performed with the Wiener Philharmoniker, much of which was recorded live for radio broadcasts and/ or CD releases. Being passionate about chamber music, Mr.Steude also has served since 2002 as concertmaster of the Wiener Virtuosen, a chamber music ensemble comprised of members of the Wiener Philharmoniker. Volkhard Steude performs on a 1718 Antonius Stradivarius（ formerly owned by Viotti and Rose）, which is on loan from the Oesterreichische Nationalbank（ the central bank of the Republic of Austria）.

In 2016, the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra in Japan conferred the honorary title of Music Partner of HSO upon Volkhard Steude.

Profile

Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra

Principal 2nd Violinist
Kamil Staniczek

Principal Contrabassist

Nicholas Franco

DR SymfoniOrkestret

Principal Clarinettist
Pedro Franco Lopez

Fagottist

Dorte Bennike
Christian Arming/ conductor

Music Director of the Liege Royal Philharmonic Orchestra since 2011, Christian Arming previously held the same post at the New Japan Philharmonic, the Lucerne Theatre and Symphony Orchestra, and was Chief Conductor of the Janáček Philharmonic. In 2017, he became Principal Guest Conductor of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra.
Since conducting the Czech Philharmonic at the Prague Spring Festival in 2003, he has conducted top European orchestras including Dresden Staatskapelle, Deutsches Sinfonieorchester, Salzburg Mozarteum, Vienna Symphony, Swiss Romande, Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Capitole de Toulouse orchestras. In North America, he has conducted Boston, Cincinnati, Houston and Vancouver Symphony orchestras, and in Asia, the NHK, Shanghai Symphony, Taiwan and Malaysian Philharmonic orchestras, among others. His work has also won many supporters in the operatic world.

Christian Arming was born in Vienna and studied conducting under Leopold Hager at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Seiji Ozawa has also been a mentor and strong supporter of his career.

In 2017/2018, he debuted with Saint Louis and Atlanta Symphony orchestras, and returned to the Aspen Music Festival and Prague Radio Symphony. 2018/2019 highlights include his return to the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, and opera “Carmen” with Seiji Ozawa Music Academy in March 2019.

Mathias Müller /Timpani

Mathias Müller was born in 1965. He had piano lessons for 7 years, and at the age of 12 he began percussion studies at the conservatory Rostock. After studying at the Musikhochschule Leipzig from 1982 to 1987, he got the first engagement as a drummer in the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Maestro Kurt Masur in 1987.

He escaped from the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1989, and became a member of the Stuttgart Philharmonic from 1990 to 1996. He returned to the Gewandhaus in Leipzig in 1996, and since 2000, he is a solo timpanist in the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Maestro Herbert Blomstedt, Riccardo Chailly and currently Maestro Andris Nelsons.

He had numerous guest activities in various orchestras with well-known conductors such as Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Hamburg, Dresden Philharmonic, Saxon State Orchestra Dresden, Staatskapelle Berlin, Bavarian State Opera, and as a soloist in the Bach Orchestra Leipzig.

He was teaching at the conservatories Rostock and Leipzig, and had a lecturer at the Affinis Festival in Hiroshima in 2017.

He became a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra in the summer of 2018.

Makoto Ozone /Piano

Majoring in Jazz composition and arrangement, Makoto Ozone graduated summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music in 1983. The same year, he gave a solo recital at Carnegie Hall in New York City, becoming the first Japanese musician to be exclusively signed to CBS, with the worldwide release of his first album OZONE.

His stellar career has brought him a Grammy nomination in 2003, and has constantly been in the forefront of the international jazz scene, recording and touring with the greats of Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, Branford Marsalis, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Christian McBride, Dave Weckl, Mike Stern and others. In 2004, he formed the “No Name Horses” big band in Japan. The band has been performing successfully in France, Austria, the US, the UK, Singapore and Japan ever since.

In recent years, Ozone has also been focusing on works from the classical music repertoire, playing concertos by Bernstein, Mozart, Rakhmaninov, and Prokofiev, with major orchestras both in Japan and abroad.

In February 2014, he was appointed by the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Alan Gilbert, to take part in their Asian tour, as the first Japanese jazz pianist. He later participated in a special performance at their home concert hall, Avery Fisher Hall, where he received a warm welcome of a full-house audience, highly praised by the media, such as the New York Times. The San Francisco Symphony also invited Ozone to take part in their concert later that year.

2017 has already been a busy year for the pianist; in March, Gary Burton, who announced his retirement from performing, and Ozone, toured the US, and later in May and June through Japan. In August, along with Clarence Penn and James Genus, THE TRIO released Dimensions, their first reunion album in a decade, and once again, he was invited by the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Alan Gilbert, to perform three days in a row, at their regular concerts held at the David Geffen Hall (renamed from Avery Fisher Hall in 2015) in early November.
2018 The Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon

WEB:http://makotoozone.com/

トランペット：金井晶子 Shoko Kanai /Trumpet

Born in Minoh City, Osaka, Shoko Kanai was graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 2014 and the Osaka College of Music Graduate School of Music in 2016. After she joined The College Operahouse Orchestra in 2016, she is the member of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra since 2017. She won the third prize at the 6th Kansai Trumpet Players Association Competition. She took lessons at the 20th Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy and Festival, and was selected as one of the member of the Premium Concert. Furthermore, she appeared in various concerts both as a member of Brass Quintet and Orchestra. She studied trumpet under Haruto Yoshida, Takayuki Akizuki, Ichiro Iizuka, Osamu Kumashiro, and chamber music under Shigekazu Ikeda.

Orchestra de Paris

Violin

Nadia MEDIOUNI

Violin

Gilles HENRY

Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra

Principal 2nd Violinist

Kamil Staniczek

Principal Contrabassist

Nicholas Franco
Krzysztof Penderecki Composer/Conductor

Multi-award winning Polish composer and conductor Krzysztof Penderecki is one of the world’s leading and most distinguished musicians of his generation.

Works like Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (1960), St. Luke Passion (1966), Cello Concerto No.2 (1982) written for Mstislav Rostropovich, Polish Requiem (1984), Symphony No.3 (1995), Violin Concerto No.2 “Metamorphosen” written for Anne-Sophie Mutter (1995), Symphony No.7 “The Seven Gates of Jerusalem” (1996) and the Double Concerto (2012) written for Janine Jansen and Julian Rachlin, to name a few, are now considered masterworks of our time.

Aside from composition, Krzysztof Penderecki has developed an outstanding career as a conductor over the years. He was guest conductor of both the NDR Elbphilharmonie and MDR Leipzig sinfonieorchesters, Artistic Director of the Casals Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico (1992–2002), and Artistic Advisor to the Beijing Music Festival. Since 2003 he has held the position of Artistic Director of the Sinfonia Varsovia with which he has developed a wide range of projects.
He also regularly works with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Iuventus – both of which he has recorded several albums with – Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia, and Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2014, Anna Schmidt filmed a long documentary film on Penderecki’s music and life, “Paths through the Labyrinth”.

Conducting engagements of the 2018/19 season include the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan and Hiroshima symphony orchestras, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern and Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa.

Recent highlights include the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Staatskapelle Weimar, Dresdner Philharmonie, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta Sinfónica di Galicia, the closing concert of the 2017 Prague Spring Festival (Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra), and a tour of Latin America including concerts with Orquesta Sinfônica del Estado de São Paulo.

Over the years, Penderecki has garnered numerous awards both as composer and conductor – his most recent accolade is a fifth Grammy Award (2017) for Best Choral Performance (he was previously awarded in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2013).

Other awards include the Grand Art Prize from the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia (1966), Prix Italia (1967), Sibelius Gold Medal (1967), Polish Composers’ Association Prize (1970), Prix Arthur Honegger (1977), Sibelius Prize of the Wihuri Foundation and National Prize of Poland (both in 1983), Premio Lorenzo il Magnifico (1985), University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition (1992), Prize of the International Music Council/UNESCO (1993), Music Prize of the City of Duisburg (1999), Cannes award “Living Composer of the Year” (2000), Premio Príncipe de Asturias (2001), Romano Guardini Prize of the Catholic Academy in Bavaria (2002), and the Praemium Imperiale (2004).

Since 1990, Penderecki has held the Grand Cross for Distinguished Services of the Order of Merit in Germany and Chevalier de Saint Georges.
In 1995 he became a member of the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin, and in 1998 a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in Munich.
He was made Commander of the Three Star Order in Riga, Latvia in 2006 and is a member of the Order of the White Eagle in Poland. Krzysztof Penderecki is honorary doctor and honorary professor of numerous international universities.

Sayaka Shoji /Violin

Educated in Siena at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana and Cologne at the Hochschule für Musik Köln under Zakhar Bron, the Japanese violinist Sayaka Shoji has been described by Gramophone magazine as “a formidable musician, able to draw on huge reserves of stamina and the unflinching equal of anything thrown at her.”
Shoji was the youngest and first Japanese violinist to win the Paganini Competition in Genoa in 1999 and since then has established strong connections with world renowned conductors including; Zubin Mehta, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mariss Jansons, Paavo Järvi, Osmo Vänska and Sir Antonio Pappano.

Highlights last season included tours to Japan with The Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev and concerts with Noseda and Accademia di Santa Cecilia. Other highlights include a tour with the NHK Symphony Orchestra for Mendelssohn’s Double concerto with Vikingur Olafsson conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy, the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich with Yutaka Sado and the new Würth Philharmoniker with Leo Hussain.
A prolific recording artist, the violinist has recorded a number of albums for Deutsche Grammophon, including the full violin sonatas by Beethoven, and more recently with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Yuri Temirkanov concertos by Sibelius and Beethoven. With Yutaka Sado and the Tonkunstler Orchester, Shoji has recently released a live disc of Bernstein’s Serenade recorded in the Musikverein in Vienna. Other live recordings include sonatas by Mozart, Schubert and Brahms recorded live with Menahem Pressler in April 2014.

Sayaka performs regularly with her long-time mentor and supporter, Yuri Temirkanov and most recently appeared as the only non-Russian musician to perform at his 75th birthday gala concert in St Petersburg. The pair have toured extensively with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra to much of Europe, Japan, Mexico, Russia and the USA. The 2018/19 season will again see Sayaka join the SPPO and Temirkanov for concerts in Rome, Udine, Bari and Milan playing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto as well as a tour in Japan. She will make debuts with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Klaus Makkela and the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn with Dirk Kaftan. Sayaka will work with Krzysztof Penderecki performing his concerto with Orchestra Metropolitana de Lisboa.

In a change to her usual performance practice, Sayaka has also created an experimental visual art project, ‘Synesthesia’ where she mixes music and colours with the aim to transform her musical perception into different forms.

In January 2016, Sayaka received the Mainichi Art Award, one of Japan’s most prestigious awards presented to those who have had a significant influence on the arts.
Sayaka plays a 1729 Recamier Stradivarius which is kindly loaned to her by Ueno Fine Chemicals Industry Ltd.