Kazuki Yamada(Conductor), Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

Kazuki Yamada is Principal Guest Conductor of Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, an appointment which followed his sensational debut with the orchestra in June 2010, one of his first appearances in Europe. In 2009, he was the winner of the 51st Besancon International Competition for young conductors, receiving the Audience Award as well as the Grand Prize. Now rapidly establishing a name for himself on the international scene, Yamada is appearing with such orchestras as Orchestre de Paris, Philharmonia Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony and Gothenburg Symphony.

In Japan, he holds the positions of Principal Conductor of Japan Philharmonic, Music Partner with Sendai Philharmonic and Ensemble Orchestral Kanzawa and Music Director of Yokohama Sinfonietta, an ensemble he founded whilst still a student. Strongly supported by Seiji Ozawa, in August 2012 he conducted Xenakis’ opera ‘Oresteia’ with Tokyo Sinfonietta, as well as a televised semi-staged production of Honegger’s ‘Jeanne d´Arc au bûcher’, with Saito-Kinen Orchestra.

Having made several impressive debuts over the last two seasons, Yamada returns in the 13/14 season to such orchestras as Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique du Capitole de Toulouse and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. Notable debuts include Orquesta Sinfonica y Coro de RTVE, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and his Vienna debut with Tonkünstler-Orchester at the Musikverein. Yamada will conclude the season with an extensive tour to Japan and the Far East, with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

Soloists with whom he is working include Emmanuel Ax, Boris Berezovsky, Gautier Capuçon, Leon Fleischer, Håkan Hardenberger, Nobuko Imai, Daishin Kashimoto, Daniel Müller-Schott, Xavier de Maistre, Steven Osborne, Vadim Repin, Fazil Say, Baiba Skride, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Daniil Trifonov.

Over 2013-2015, Kazuki Yamada and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande will release a series of 3 CDs inspired by dance music, on the Pentatone label. Furthermore, a disc of works by Glazunov, Kalinnikov and Khatchaturian with Czech Philharmonic is due for release with Octavia Records during the 13/14 season. Passionate about choral repertoire, Yamada is Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus’s Residential Conductor and the group have released four CDs (on Fontec).

Now resident in Berlin, Yamada was born in Kanagawa, Japan, in 1979. He was awarded the Ataka-Prize in 2001 when he graduated from the conducting course at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music. He also studied under Gerhard Markson at the Mozarteum Salzburg in 2002. In 2011 he received the Idemitsu Music Prize for young artists in Japan.

First prize winner of such renowned competitions as the 6th Menuhin International Junior Violin Competition in England in 1993, the International Competition for Violinists in Cologne in 1994 (Daishin was the youngest participant), and, in 1996, both the International Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition in Vienna and the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Competition for Piano and Violin in Paris.

Received number of prestigious awards such as Arion Award (1995), both Idemitsu and Mobile Music Awards (1997), Fresh Artists Award of the Nippon Steel Music Awards (1998), The Minister of Education , Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists (1998), Cultural Award from Hyogo Prefectural Gevernment (2011) and Change Maker 2011 in Japan, and Steigenberger and Davidov Awards in Germany.

A Japanese national born in London in 1979, Daishin Kashimoto has already been recognized internationally by performing under renowned Maestros such as Seiji Ozawa, Lorin Maazel, Yuri Temirkanov, Vladimir Fedoseev, Evgeny Svetlanov, Michel Plasson, Semyon Bychkov, Eliahu Inbal, Mariss Jansons, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Myung-Whun Chung, Mikhail Pletnev and others.

Began studying violin in Tokyo at the age of three under Kumiko Eto. He moved to New York in 1985, and in the following year, he was accepted by the pre-college division of The Juilliard School as its youngest student where he studied under Naoko Tanaka, and received the Edward John Noble Foundation Scholarship. In 1990, he moved to Lübeck, Germany to accept an invitation to study under Prof. Zakhar Bron, and from his age 20, he studied under Prof. Rainer Kussmaul at Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, and completed master’s course winning Gustav Scheck prize.

Daishin is also active in the field of chamber music, and he has performed with noted musicians such as Martha Argerich, Itamar Golan, Yuri Bashmet, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky, Gérard Caussée, Myung-Whun Chung, Paul Meyer, Emmanuel Pahud, Eric Le Sage, and others.

On January 22, 2007, Daishin was chosen to perform at a special concert aimed to develop relationship between China, Korea, and Japan and performed chamber music with the Japanese H.I.H. Crown Prince Naruhito (viola) and Myung-Whun Chung (piano) together with Jing Zhao, and Dong-Hyuck Ahn .

Starting from 2007, Daishin serves as music director at chamber music festivals in Ako and Himeji in Japan.

Three CDs have been released from Sony Classical. The third CD which was released in Febuary 2007 is a live recording from three concerts with Staatskapelle Dresden under Mo. Myung-Whun Chung (Brahms) at Semperoper in Dresden in November 2006.

Daishin was appointed as the first concertmaster of Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 2010.
In June, 2012, Daishin performed at the concert in Waldbüne with Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as a soloist under Mo. Andris Nelsons.

He plays on a violin made by Andrea Guarneri, 1674.

Curriculum Vitae as of June 2012

Founded in 1918 by Ernest Ansermet, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande has 112 musicians. The orchestra’s activities include subscription concerts in Geneva and Lausanne and opera performances at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

Since September 2012, Neeme Järvi is the Artistic and Music Director of the Orchestre de Suisse Romande, with Kazuki Yamada as Principal Guest Conductor.

Since its creation the world famous Orchestre de la Suisse Romande has played, and continues to play, an active role in the history of music by discovering and supporting contemporary composers and premiering their works in Geneva (Britten, Debussy, Eötvös, Holliger, Honegger, Jarrell, Martin, Milhaud or Stravinski).

From the very start, the OSR concerts have been broadcast on the radio, in close collaboration with the Radio-Television Suisse (RTS). The advent of recording led to a rapid expansion of the Orchestra’s audience. Thanks to its privileged partnership with Decca the Orchestra has made many legendary and major award winning recordings.

The OSR has toured throughout the world, performing in the most famous concert halls and at major festivals in Europe.

The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande is generously supported by the City of Geneva, The République et canton of Geneva, the Canton of Vaud, the RTS, the Friends of the OSR and many sponsors and benefactors.