Sachio Fujioka

Principal Conductor of the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra

Principal Guest Conductor of the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra

《Official WEB》https://www.fujioka-sachio.com/

Born in Tokyo in 1962. Sachio Fujioka studied piano and violoncello, and was the last favorite student of renowned conductor Akeo Watanabe. He served as assistant to Sir Georg Solti in London.

Fujioka graduated from the Department of Literature of Keio University. In 1990, following a conducting internship with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, he enrolled in the conducting department of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He was selected as a scholarship student, and in 1992 he received the “Sir Charles Groves Conducting Fellowship”, which is given to the young conductors of the most talented EU member states, as a special case despite being Japanese.

Fujioka was Assistant Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic between 1992 and 1995. Following his debut with the BBC Philharmonic in November 1993, he made his debut in the London summer tradition “BBC PROMS” conducted the BBC Philharmonic in 1994. He was a great success and has since performed as a guest performer in many overseas orchestras such as Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, etc. He has also attracted attention as an opera at the Teatro Nacional de Oviedo in Spain, and in November 2024, on the 100th anniversary of Fauré’s death, he had the honor of conducting the Requiem at the Madeleine in Paris.

Following his very successful debut with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo in May 1995, he was appointed a regular guest conductor and now returns to work with the Orchestra on a number of occasions each season.
Between 1995 and 2000 Fujioka was Principal Conductor of the Manchester Camerata and during the 1998/99 season he and the Orchestra undertook a highly successful tour of Japan including appearances at Suntory Hall, Tokyo.

In 2001, Fujioka was appointed Principal Conductor of the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra in Osaka. He will bigin 26th season in January 2025 as Principal, and from April 2025, he also serve as General Director. With which he has conducted over 40 concerts each year, the strong feeling of unity in these performances has thrilled audiences and earned high acclaim. In April 2019, he was appointed as Principal Guest Conductor of the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra and there are great expectations for future activities of both parties.

Fujioka has made a mark in opera as well. He conducted an Opera de Oviedo (Spain) production of Britten’s Turn of the Screw in 2006 which won an award for the year’s best new production; and production of Ariadne auf Naxos in 2009.

Fujioka has released 8 CDs with the BBC Philharmonic including the works of Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu on the British label CHANDOS, and the complete Sibelius’s Symphonies with Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra on ALM RECORDS in September 2021 . He published from Keibunsha “Do you like music? ” and “Sequels・Do you like and music?”

He often appears on TV and radio such as TV TOKYO’s “Tokyu Gilvester Concert” on New Year’s Eve, but among them,
BS TV TOKYO “Enter the Music” (every Saturday morning 8:30), which participated in the launch of the program and is appearing with Kansai Philharmonic as a conductor and moderator is a popular program that has entered its eleventh year in October 2024 and has been broadcast over 500 times.

Sachio Fujioka was the recipient of the 2002 Akeo Watanabe Foundation Music Award.

(April 2025 /560 words)

Born in Tokyo in 1962. Sachio Fujioka studied piano and violoncello. He was the last favorite student of renowned conductor Akeo Watanabe and served as assistant to Sir Georg Solti in London.
In 1990, Fujioka enrolled in the conducting department of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He received the “Sir Charles Groves Conducting Fellowship”, which is given to the young conductors of the most talented EU member states, as a special case despite being Japanese in 1992. Following his debut with the BBC Philharmonic in November 1993, he made his debut in the London summer tradition “BBC PROMS” conducted the BBC Philharmonic in 1994. He was a great success and has since performed as a guest performer in many overseas orchestras. He has also attracted attention as an opera at the Teatro Nacional de Oviedo in Spain, and in November 2024, on the 100th anniversary of Fauré’s death, he had the honor of conducting the Requiem at the Madeleine in Paris.
In 2001, he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra and will bigin 26th season in January 2025 as principal and from April 2025, he will serve as General Director. In 2019, he was appointed as Principal Guest Conductor of the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra.
Fujioka has released 8 CDs with the BBC Philharmonic including the works of Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu on the British label CHANDOS, and the complete Sibelius’s Symphonies with Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra on ALM RECORDS in September 2021 . He also appears in TV program “Enter the Music” since October 2014. (BS TV TOKYO every Saturday from 8:30a.m.) He was the recipient Akeo Watanabe Foundation Music Award in 2002.

(April 2025 /280 words)

Sachio Fujioka was the last favorite student of renowned conductor Akeo Watanabe. He served as assistant to Sir Georg Solti in London.
In 1990 Fujioka enrolled in the conducting department of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Following his debut with the BBC Philharmonic in 1993, he made his debut in the London summer tradition “BBC PROMS” conducted the BBC Philharmonic in 1994. In 2001 he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Kansai Philharmonic and will bigin 26th season in January 2025 as Principal and from April 2025, he also serve as General Director. He was appointed as Principal Guest Conductor of the Tokyo City Philharmonic in 2019. He also appears in TV program “Enter the Music” since October 2014. (BS TV TOKYO every Saturday from 8:30a.m.) He has released 8 CDs with the BBC Philharmonic including the works of Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu on the British label CHANDOS.
He was the recipient Akeo Watanabe Foundation Music Award in 2002.

(April 2025 /160 words)