Kazushi Ono is the definitive musical citizen of the world, having been born in Tokyo, studied in Munich and forged his early career in Zagreb, Karlsruhe and Tokyo. This variety of influences has shaped an inquiring and profound musical intellect and an ability to communicate meaning across languages and cultures, leading to longstanding relationships around the world.
Ono trained in Europe under Wolfgang Sawallisch and came to public attention winning first prize in the 1987 Toscanini Competition. Since his first appointment at Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1992 he has held continuous positions, including at Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Karlsruhe Opera, La Monnaie, Opéra National de Lyon, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, and currently, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, New National Theatre Tokyo and Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra.
A favourite of orchestral players, he has lasting friendships with orchestras around the world and regularly guest conducts groups such as London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
His passion and curiosity for repertoire takes him in different directions – to the standard classics but also to new music. He often commissions works and has collaborated several times with Mark-Anthony Turnage, including on Silent Cities, Hibiki (which won a Royal Philharmonic Society award) and Time Flies, which was originally commissioned for the 2020 Tokyo Olympiad. Recent commissions at NNTT include Asters by Akira Nishimura and Dai Fujikura’s A Dream of Armageddon. His programming there also includes Baroque, 20th-century and bel canto masterpieces.
In Europe he conducted the world premieres of Toshio Hosokawa’s Hanjyo in Aix-en-Provence, Arnulf Hermann’s Der Mieter at Oper Frankfurt and Kaija Saariaho’s Emilie at Opéra de Lyon, as well as new productions of Ravel’s L’heure espagnole and L’Enfant et les sortilèges at Glyndebourne and Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher at Opéra de Lyon. He has worked closely with boundary-breaking directors such as Dmitri Tcherniakov, Romeo Castellucci, Pierre Audi, William Kentridge and Mariusz Treliński
Ono is a vocal advocate for the role of culture in all our lives. During his time in Lyon he took part in a programme bringing opera to prisons and at TMSO he leads the inclusive SaLaD Music Festival, as well as working with community organisations for people with disabilities. In his new role in Brussels he will be part of an integration scheme for refugees. During the initial stages of the pandemic, he led ground-breaking research into the transmission of particles and the use of ventilation that meant that orchestras could get back to playing for audiences safely.
In 2017 he was awarded ‘Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ by French cultural minister Françoise Nyssen, adding to the prestigious Asahi Prize in January 2015, for his contribution to the development and progress of Japanese society.
https://www.kazushiono.com/

Tatsuya Yabe was born in Tokyo. He graduated from the Soloist Diploma Course of Toho Gakuen School of Music in 1989. In 1990, at the age of 22, Yabe was chosen to be solo concertmaster of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony. He has been actively performing as soloist with numerous orchestras under the baton of world-renowned conductors such as Asahina, Ozawa, Wakasugi, DePreist, Fournet, Inbal and Bertini.

In 2009, Miyata won the grand prix in the 9th Rostropovich Cello Competition. He is the very first Japanese competitor who won the grand prix in the world's most prestigious competition.
His splendid talent attracted a lot of attention of people and musicians surrounding him since his early childhood, and after 9 years old he won the first prizes in all the contests in which he participated including the 74th Music Competition of Japan.
Miyata played concertos with domestic and foreign various orchestras such as Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and Sinfonietta Frankfurt.
And he is active in holding solo concerts, recital and chamber music with world famous musicians; Lynn Harrell, Gidon Kremer, Yurii Bashmet, Maxim Vengerov, Augustin Dumay and Eliahu Inbal.
The mass media in the world are observing him very much. He is one of the best young cellist who attracts people's expectation in the present age.

Michie Koyama is the only Japanese pianist who has won prizes at both the Tchaikovsky and Chopin competitions. She has performed with numerous prestigious orchestras and conductors. In 2006, she launched a major project to give 24 recitals in 12 years. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Koyama has continued to visit schools and public facilities in the affected areas to give performances.