Festa Summer MUZA KAWASAKI 2025
Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra14:20-

Masaru Kumakura (b.1992) is currently 2. Kapellmeister at the Hannover State Opera, where he has conducted Rusalka, Carmen, die Zauberflöte, i Capuleti e i Montecchi and Hänsel und Gretel. His scheduled performances at the Hannover State Opera in 23/24 season will also include Così fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro.

In May of 2018, he conducted Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, and it was his debut with a professional orchestra in Japan. For 3 years he has been working as the assistant of Mo. Paavo Järvi and NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo, JAPAN), and he made his debut with NHKSO in August of 2018 in recognition of his working. After this acclaimed performance, he regularly conducts NHKSO.

He has also conducted many Japanese orchestras, such as, Kyushu Symphony Orchestra, Gunma Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Hyogo Performing Art Center Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra, Osaka Symphony Orchestra, Yamagata Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Okayama Philharmonic Orchestra, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and Sapporo Symphony Orchestra.

From 2021 to 2023, he has worked as an assistant of Mo. Kent Nagano in the Hamburg State Opera, and in December 2022 he made his house-debut in the performance of die Zauberflöte.

Born in 2004. Shio Okui began her career at an early stage, she made her orchestral debut at age 8, and she performed with the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev at the age of 12. In 2019, she was appointed as a soloist for the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra's European tour, and at the age of 15, she made her debut in famous European halls such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Musikverein, and the Smetana Hall in Prague.

Shio has performed with many orchestras from around the world, including the Russian National Orchestra (Mikhail Pletnev), the Russian National Philharmonic Orchestra (Vladimir Spivakov), the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (Mykola Djadura), and in Japan, the NHK Symphony Orchestra (Keitaro Harada), the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra (Junichi Hirokami), and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra (Kazuyoshi Akiyama).

She is a laureate of various prestigious competitions, including the XII International Paderewski Piano Competition (Poland, 2022, the youngest finalist and Honorable Mention prize), the Vladimir Krainev Moscow International Piano Competition (Russia, 2015, 1st prize), the Manchester International Piano Concerto Competition under 16 years old category (UK, 2013, 1st prize), the International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz (Ukraine, 2013, 1st prize).

Shio studied at the Central Music School of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, and graduated from the Moscow Gnessin Special School of Music with the highest honors and a red diploma in 2023. She is currently studying under Nelson Gellner at the Haute école de musique de Genève. She is a scholarship holder of the ROHM Music Foundation(2023, 2024), the International Piano Foundation Theo and Petra Lieven of Hamburg(2023, 2024), the Vladimir Spivakov International Charitable Foundation and the State Memorial Museum of A.N. Scriabin (2019).

TMSO was established by Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 1965 as a part of a cultural promotion project to mark the Tokyo Olympic Games. TMSO has grown to become one of Japanʼs foremost professional orchestras under the Music Directors such as T.Mori, A.Watanabe, H. Wakasugi, and G.Bertini. Currently Kazushi Ono serves as Music Director, Alan Gilbert as Principal Guest Conductor, Kazuhiro Koizumi as Honorary Conductor for Life and Eliahu Inbal as Conductor Laureate.

In addition to a variety of subscription concerts and special concerts, TMSO is also actively engaged in efforts to support Tokyo residents, by giving concerts for schools, for welfare institutions and for physically challenged persons, by visiting islands as well as by being involved in outreach activities.

Awards: the Kyoto Music Award (1991), the Japanʼs Record Academy Award for Best Symphony Album (2012), the Music Pen Club Japan Award for Best Recorded Work Award and Best Concert Performance Award (2012), the Japanʼs Record Academy Award for Special Award (2015), and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Music Award Encouragement prize (2024).

TMSO has received much international acclaim as the “Music Ambassador of Capital Tokyo” through overseas performances in Europe, North America and Asia. In November 2015, TMSO brought a tour in Europe under the baton of Kazushi Ono, which was highly acclaimed. At the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games held in July 2021, TMSO per-formed “Olympic Hymn” (pre-recorded sound source conducted by Kazushi Ono).