Chofu Series No.25
Venue: Chofu Green Hall Venue Info
Naoto OTOMO, Conductor
Mayuko KAMIO, Violin
Naoto OTOMO (Conductor)
Since his debut with the NHK Symphony Orchestra at the age of 22, Otomo has led the highly competitive music scene of Japan. He currently serves as Music Director at the Ryukyu Symphony Orchestra (Okinawa) and Artistic Director of Takasaki City Theatre, and previously held the posts of Principal Conductor/Music Director at the Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo, Kyoto and Gunma Symphony Orchestras and Osaka Philharmonic.
Otomo has appeared repeatedly with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Romania, Indianapolis Symphony, Hawaii Symphony, and he led the Philharmonia Orchestra on its tour to Japan.
Otomo has performed with numerous world-renowned soloists, such as Radu Lupu, Mikhail Pletnev, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Nobuko Imai, Mstislav Rostropovich, among the others.
Well-known for his wide repertoire ranging from classical to contemporary works, Otomo has premiered numerous new works, conducting especially the first performances in Japan of several pieces by James MacMillan and the opera “A Flowering Tree” by John Adams. He was also awarded for his performance of Italian premier of Shigeaki Saegusa’s Jr. Butterfly at the Puccini Festival.
Otomo has appeared repeatedly with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Romania, Indianapolis Symphony, Hawaii Symphony, and he led the Philharmonia Orchestra on its tour to Japan.
Otomo has performed with numerous world-renowned soloists, such as Radu Lupu, Mikhail Pletnev, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Nobuko Imai, Mstislav Rostropovich, among the others.
Well-known for his wide repertoire ranging from classical to contemporary works, Otomo has premiered numerous new works, conducting especially the first performances in Japan of several pieces by James MacMillan and the opera “A Flowering Tree” by John Adams. He was also awarded for his performance of Italian premier of Shigeaki Saegusa’s Jr. Butterfly at the Puccini Festival.
Mayuko KAMIO (Violin)
Japanese violinist Mayuko Kamio, the gold medalist of the 2007 International Tchaikovsky Competition, is widely praised for her luxurious silken tone, long expressive phrasing and virtuoso techniques. The New York Times has called Ms. Kamio an "exciting young musician" and "a radiant talent." Ms. Kamio made her concerto debut in Tokyo at the age of ten under the baton of Charles Dutoit, in a concert broadcast on NHK television. Since then, she has appeared as soloist with the Boston Pops conducted by Keith Lockhart, the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich with Mstislav Rostropovich, and the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta.
She has toured with the National Philharmonic of Russia conducted by Vladimir Spivakov, the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Ivan Fischer, the Munich Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, the Prague Philharmonic, the BBC Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, the Oviedo Symphony Orchestra of Spain; and appeared in Japan as soloist with the Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, NHK, Osaka, Sapporo and Yomiuri Nippon symphony orchestras; and the Japan, Tokyo and Tokyo City philharmonics.
Recently she toured with Israel Philharmonic under Ludovic Morlot, the South America with the Munich Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, and Japan with the German SWR Symphony Orchestra under François-Xavier Roth. Other recent orchestral highlights include appearances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Jiri Belohlavek, Budapest Festival Orchestra under Ivan Fischer, NHK Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy, Israel Philharmonic under Yaron Traub, Calgary Philharmonic under Roberto Minczuk and Colorado Springs Philharmonic under Carl St. Clair. As a recitalist, she has performed in such major cities as New York, Washington DC, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Frankfurt, Warsaw, and Tokyo.
As a winner of the 1998 Menuhin International Violin Competition, the youngest artist ever to win the award, Ms. Kamio performed with the Orchestra National de Lille with Lord Menuhin conducting. In 2000 she took first prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and in 2004 she won the first Monte Carlo Violin Masters Competition. As part of this award, she made concerto appearances at the Salle Gaveau in Paris with the Orchestra of the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris conducted by Jean- Michel Durand, and in Monte Carlo with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Monaco, conducted by Eliahu Inbal. That same year, she was awarded the gold medal at the first International David Oistrakh Violin Competition in Ukraine.
She has released four recordings on the SONY and BMG labels, a sonata recording of Franck, Brahms and Strauss, a concerto recording of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev Concerti, a collection of violin solo works with piano of Chausson, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, Waxman and Paganini's 24 Caprices for Solo Violin.
Ms. Kamio was born in Osaka, Japan in 1986, and began to play the violin at the age of four. Her early teachers were Chikako Satoya, Machie Oguri and Chihiro Kudo, and she worked with Koichiro Harada at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. She studied in the U.S. with Dorothy DeLay and Masao Kawasaki at the Aspen Music Festival and the pre- college division of The Juilliard School. She completed artist's diploma studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Zurich, where she worked with Zakhar Bron. Ms. Kamio received a grant from the Bagby Foundation for the Musical Arts, and is a recipient of the prestigious Idemitsu Music Award. Mayuko Kamio plays on the 1735 "Sennhauser" made by Joseph Guarneri del Gesu, kindly offered by the Strad Society in Chicago.
She has toured with the National Philharmonic of Russia conducted by Vladimir Spivakov, the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Ivan Fischer, the Munich Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, the Prague Philharmonic, the BBC Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, the Oviedo Symphony Orchestra of Spain; and appeared in Japan as soloist with the Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, NHK, Osaka, Sapporo and Yomiuri Nippon symphony orchestras; and the Japan, Tokyo and Tokyo City philharmonics.
Recently she toured with Israel Philharmonic under Ludovic Morlot, the South America with the Munich Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, and Japan with the German SWR Symphony Orchestra under François-Xavier Roth. Other recent orchestral highlights include appearances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Jiri Belohlavek, Budapest Festival Orchestra under Ivan Fischer, NHK Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy, Israel Philharmonic under Yaron Traub, Calgary Philharmonic under Roberto Minczuk and Colorado Springs Philharmonic under Carl St. Clair. As a recitalist, she has performed in such major cities as New York, Washington DC, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Frankfurt, Warsaw, and Tokyo.
As a winner of the 1998 Menuhin International Violin Competition, the youngest artist ever to win the award, Ms. Kamio performed with the Orchestra National de Lille with Lord Menuhin conducting. In 2000 she took first prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and in 2004 she won the first Monte Carlo Violin Masters Competition. As part of this award, she made concerto appearances at the Salle Gaveau in Paris with the Orchestra of the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris conducted by Jean- Michel Durand, and in Monte Carlo with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Monaco, conducted by Eliahu Inbal. That same year, she was awarded the gold medal at the first International David Oistrakh Violin Competition in Ukraine.
She has released four recordings on the SONY and BMG labels, a sonata recording of Franck, Brahms and Strauss, a concerto recording of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev Concerti, a collection of violin solo works with piano of Chausson, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, Waxman and Paganini's 24 Caprices for Solo Violin.
Ms. Kamio was born in Osaka, Japan in 1986, and began to play the violin at the age of four. Her early teachers were Chikako Satoya, Machie Oguri and Chihiro Kudo, and she worked with Koichiro Harada at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. She studied in the U.S. with Dorothy DeLay and Masao Kawasaki at the Aspen Music Festival and the pre- college division of The Juilliard School. She completed artist's diploma studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Zurich, where she worked with Zakhar Bron. Ms. Kamio received a grant from the Bagby Foundation for the Musical Arts, and is a recipient of the prestigious Idemitsu Music Award. Mayuko Kamio plays on the 1735 "Sennhauser" made by Joseph Guarneri del Gesu, kindly offered by the Strad Society in Chicago.
