Festa Summer MUZA KAWASAKI 2025
[sold out] NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo14:15-

With his exceptional organizational skill and the music that overflows from his fresh, lively sensibility, Shurihito Matsumoto stands out as one of the most promising new stars of the music world.

Matsumoto was born in 1992 in Osaka. Upon graduating from the conducting course at Tokyo University of the Arts, he was awarded the Acanthus Prize, the highest prize for excellence. He studied conducting with Tadaaki Otaka, Masahiko Kurano, Ken Takaseki and Yoshikazu Tanaka.

Matsumoto was conductor of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra from April 2019 to March 2022. He has given superb performances as invited guest conductor with many orchestras. In addition to conducting subscription concerts of the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra and Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra's masterpiece concert series, he has been guest conductor of orchestras including the Yamagata Symphony, Sendai Philharmonic, Gunma Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Nagoya Philharmonic, City of Kyoto Symphony, Kansai Philharmonic, Osaka Symphony, Japan Century Symphony, and Kyushu Symphony Orchestra.

It was announced that Shurihito Matsumoto will assume the post of conductor with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra from April 2025.

Japanese pianist Tomoki Sakata “demonstrated virtuosity, considerable color and expressivity” (Dallas Morning News) during the 2013 Cliburn Competition, earning him a place among the top six finalists. Since just 19 years old, he has been building a reputation for a “youthful overabundance of talent” that creates “its own visceral excitement” (Theater Jones).

Mr. Sakata won the 4th prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition 2021 in Brussels, the 1st prize and public prizeat the Kissinger KlavierOlymp 2019, and the 1st prize along with 6 special prizes at the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition 2016 in Budapest by a unanimous vote.

He has made recital, chamber and concerto appearances throughout Europe, Asia, the U.S.A and Africa, in such major concert halls as Leipzig Gewandhaus, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Rudolfinum, Müpa Budapest, Grand Hall of the Liszt Academy, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Salle Cortot, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Teatro Grande di Brescia, and Suntory Hall, as soloist with Staatskapelle Halle, Belgian National Orchestra, Czech National Symphony, Hungarian National Philharmonic, Hungarian Radio Symphony, Hungarian State Opera, Sofia Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Orchestre Phiharmonique du Maroc, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, working with such conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Alexander Lazarev, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Vladimír Válek, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Sascha Goetzel, Jonathon Heyward, Howard Griffiths, Hugh Wolff, János Kovács, Andrea Battistoni, Tadaaki Otaka, and Kazushi Ono, as a chamber musician, working with Tokyo Quartet, Brentano Quartet, to name a few. His performances have been broadcast on the Radio and TV in Germany (BR-Klassik and MDR Kultur), Switzerland (Radio Suisse Romande and Radio Svizzera Italiana), Hungary (Bartók Rádió), Bulgaria (Bulgarian National Television), Russia (Russia-K), Italy, the U.S.A., and Japan.

Sakata has been invited in numerous international music festivals, including Verbier Festival (Switzerland), Kissinger Sommer (Germany), Beethovenfest Bonn (Germany), International Music Festival “Janáčkův máj” (Czech Republic), Brussels Piano Festival (Belgium), International Festival “Musical Kremlin” (Russia), and Spring Festival in Tokyo (Japan).

Also active as a composer and arranger, Mr. Sakata's works have been performed at major concert halls in Japan by leading artists. His compositions and arrangements are published by Ongaku no Tomo Edition.

He made his debut as a conductor with the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra, conducting 2 Mozart concerti from the keyboard and japan premiere of a symphonic work by Liszt, in February 2022.

The NHK Symphony Orchestra was established on October 5, 1926 under the name the New Symphony Orchestra. In 1951, it came under the financial support of Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) and was renamed the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Since then, it has continuously invited world-renowned conductors, such as Jean Martinon, Herbert von Karajan, Ernest Ansermet, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Lovro von Matačić, Joseph Keilberth, Pierre Boulez, Otmar Suitner, Horst Stein, André Previn, and Lorin Maazel, and the world's most sought-after soloists to produce outstanding performances which have gone down in history. The orchestra marks its 100th anniversary in 2026.

Ever since its first around-the-world concert tour (visiting 24 cities in 12 countries) in 1960, the orchestra has put emphasis on performing overseas. In recent years, it appeared at the Salzburg Festival in 2013, and had a concert tour visiting 9 musical capitals in Europe including Berlin and Vienna in the spring of 2020, thus establishing a remarkable presence on world's renowned stages. The orchestra is scheduled to have a European tour in May 2025 in conjunction with invitations to the Mahler Festival (Concertgebouw, Amsterdam), the Prague Spring Festival, and the Dresdner Musikfestspiele.

Conductors who are closely associated with the NHK Symphony Orchestra include Fabio Luisi (Chief Conductor), Charles Dutoit (Music Director Emeritus), Herbert Blomstedt (Honorary Conductor Laureate), Vladimir Ashkenazy (Conductor Laureate), Paavo Järvi (Honorary Conductor), Tadaaki Otaka (Permanent Conductor), and Tatsuya Shimono (Permanent Conductor).