Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo

Kazuki YAMADA, conductor
Artistic and Musical Director of the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra
Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO)
Permanent Conductor Japan Philharmonic Orchestra
Principal Guest Conductor Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra,
Guest conductor of the Seiji Ozawa International Academy

Kazuki Yamada is Designate Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), a role he commences in spring 2023, building upon the deep musical bond formed with players during his time as Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra.

Alongside his commitments in Birmingham, Yamada is also Artistic and Music Director of Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. Having already worked with the two organisations in partnership, conducting collaborative performances of Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” in Monaco in 2019, Yamada’s new appointment sees a continuing link forged between Monaco and Birmingham, with the CBSO Chorus set for a return to Monaco in 2023 for a performance of Orff’s “Carmina Burana”.

Time spent under the close supervision of Seiji Ozawa served to underline the importance of what Kazuki Yamada calls his “Japanese feeling” for classical music. Born in 1979 in Kanagawa, Japan, he continues to work and perform in Japan every season with NHK Symphony Orchestra and in his position as Principal Guest Conductor with Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. Shortly after assuming his position in Birmingham, Yamada will give a series of concerts on tour around Japan with the CBSO in summer 2023.

Yamada’s passionate and collaborative approach to conducting means he commands a busy international diary of concerts, opera and choral conducting. The current season begins with his debut at the BBC Proms with CBSO in summer 2022. He continues regular guesting commitments with Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, also returning to Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. He makes debut appearances with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique and the Minnesota Orchestra. He also returns to Opéra de Monte-Carlo for a production of Saint-Saëns’ rarely programmed “Déjanire” and Berlioz’s “La damnation de Faust”. Future guesting dates include Swedish Radio Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.

Yamada performs with soloists such as Emanuel Ax, Leif Ove Andsnes, Seong-Jin Cho, Isabelle Faust, Martin Helmchen, Nobuko Imai, Alexander Kantorow, Evgeny Kissin, Daniel Lozakovich, Maria Joao Pires, Baiba Skride, Arabella Steinbacher, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Krystian Zimerman and Frank Peter Zimmermann.

Strongly committed to his role as an educator, Yamada appears annually as a guest artist at the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on international concert halls reaffirmed his belief that -– in his words – ‘The audience is always involved in making the music. As a conductor, I need an audience there as much as the musicians’. Yamada studied music at the Tokyo University of the Arts, where he discovered a love both for Mozart and the Russian romantic repertory. He first achieved international attention upon receiving first prize in the 51st Besançon International Competition for young conductors in 2009. After living in Japan for most of his life, he now resides in Berlin.

Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo

Called the “l’Orchestre du Nouveau Cercle des Étrangers” in 1856, and the “Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Monte-Carlo” in 1958, it has held the name “Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo” (OPMC) since 1980 and occupies a place of choice in the international world of music.

Its ability to combine tradition and modernity, gives the OPMC leadership in the performance of symphonic works from the great repertoire, in the renewal of rare and contemporary works, as well as in operatic and choreographic creation.

Among the many who have headed the OPMC from 1856 to the present under diverse designations (Permanent Conductor, Titular Conductor, First Guest Conductor, Music Director, Artistic and Musical Director) may be mentioned Alexandre Hermann, Eusèbe Lucas, Léon Jehin, Louis Ganne, Marc Cesar Scotto, Victor de Sabata, Paul Paray, Henri Tomasi, Louis Fremaux, Edouard van Remoortel, Igor Markevitch, Lovro von Matacic, Lawrence Foster, James DePreist, Marek Janowski, Yakov Kreizberg, Gianluigi Gelmetti and, since the 2016-2017 season, Kazuki Yamada.

The “OPMC Classics” label was launched in the autumn of 2010, with five records under the direction of Yakov Kreizberg, three under Gianluigi Gelmetti. The recordings continue with Kazuki Yamada, with a first record in 2017, the Symphonie Fantastique and Rêverie et Caprice of Berlioz. In 2021, three new recordings are released.

Under the chair of HRH The Princess of Hanover, the OPMC enjoys the support and encouragement of HSH Prince Albert II, the support of the Government of the Principality, Société des Bains de Mer and the Friends of the Philharmonic Orchestra Association.