Orchestra Ensemble KanazawaMusic Director: Michiyoshi Inoue
Honorary Music Director:Hiroyuki Iwaki
Principal Guest Conductor: Dmitrij Kitajenko
Artistic Advisor: Gunter Pichler
Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa was founded in 1988 with support from Ishikawa prefecture and Kanazawa city, a city symbolizing Japanese Art, Culture and Tradition. The initiative was taken by reknown conductor Hiroyuki Iwaki to create the countryLs first multinational chamber orchestra, consisting of 40 musicians from all over the world. One of the youngest orchestras in the country, it has a busy schedule presenting more than 100 concerts a year in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture and in all major cities throughout Japan. Additionally, the orchestra regularly performs abroad: there have been recent tours to Europe as well as to South-East Asia and Australia. Conductors and Soloists performing with the orchestra have included Jean-Pierre Wallez, Oliver Knussen, Hervet Niquet, Nicholas Kraemer and Gunter Pichler as well as Hermann Prey, Peter Schreier, Philippe Entremont, Karl Leister, Wolfram Christ, Mario Brunello, Yo-Yo Ma, Stanislav Bunin, Salvatore Accardo, Bruno Camino, Gidon Kremer and Ann Akiko Meyers. The orchestraLs Principal Guest Conductor is Dmitri Kitajenko. Although programme building is based on Classical and Romantic repertoires, great emphasis is put on interpretation of contemporary music. The endeavor to commission, explore, and perform new music has led to more than 50 world premieres, mostly of pieces written by composers in residence, namely Toshi Ichiyanagi, Maki Ishii, YuzoToyama, Akira Nishimura, Joji Yuasa, Toru Takemitsu, Toshiro Mayuzumi, Shinichiro Ikebe, Keiko Fujiie, Hikaru Hayashi, Atsuhiko Gondai and Lera Auerbach. Among many CD productions of Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, Bizet/Shchedrin's Carmen Suite and Schnittke's Concerto Grosso No.1, (Deutsche Grammophon), received the Record Academy Prize in 1992.
HIROYUKI IWAKI,Honorary Music Director(1988-2006)
@Born in Tokyo, Hiroyuki Iwaki studied at the Instrumental music department of the Tokyo University of Fine Arts. He made his conducting debut in September 1956 with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, and was appointed to the post of conductor with the NHK Symphony in 1963. ?He has enjoyed enormous success in Europe, conducting the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig. In 1990, the French government made him an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters. In his own country, Maestro Iwaki has achieved the highly honoured position of Chief Conductor for life of the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation's NHK Orchestra and, with the Orchestra, has toured China, South-East Asia, the USSR, South America, the USA, Australia and Europe. He is also the patron of the World Orchestra of the Jeunesses Musicales and has conducted that ensemble in both Japan and Hungary. ?For his contribution to contemporary Japanese music, he was awarded the Kenzo Nakajima Award in 1987 and the coveted Suntory Music Prize in 1988. As Artistic Director, he opened Tokyo's newest cultural centre, the Tokyo Bunka Mura (Arts Village) in 1988 and, that same year, he founded Japan's only permanent professional chamber orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa. Iwaki conducted the orchestra regularly until his death in 2006- in Kanazawa, Japan and around the world. He recorded close to 40 discs with the orchestra, and also initiated the building of Kanazawa's new concert Hall- Ishikawa Ongakudo, which today is the orchestra's home. In addition to his career music, he is also a noted author and in 1991 won the Japan Essayist Club Award. ?His enthusiasm for contemporary music has earned Hiroyuki Iwaki the nickname of the "premiere maniac". In one three-year period he gave 236 performances of contemporary works, both Japanese and Western, many of the world premieres. His Decca recording of works by Messiaen has won a Grand Prix du Disque. In 1993, Maestro Iwaki was honoured by the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation with the presentation of the NHK Broadcasting Culture Award. In 1996, the Emperor of Japan conferred on him the Medal of Honour with Purple Ribbon. After suffering from cancer for many years, Iwaki died at a Tokyo Hospital in June 2006. He was 73. Honoring his great achievements, he was named "Honorary Music Director" of Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in November 2006.
MICHIYOSHI INOUE,Music Director
@Passionate about the arts from a young age, Michiyoshi Inoue began piano lessons very early and studied ballet for ten years before deciding, at the age of fifteen, to pursue a career as a conductor. On entering the renowned Toho Gakuen School of Music, he studied under the late Hideo Saito, one of the country's most prominent music scholars and mentor to conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Hiroshi Wakasugi and Kazuyoshi Akiyama. Mr. Inoue's professional career began in 1970 when he was named Associate Conductor to the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. A year later, the critical acclaim following his first prize at the Guido Cantelli Conducting Competition in Milan brought him to the attention of the international music scene, and he has been a familiar face on podiums all over the world ever since. From 1977 to 1982 Michiyoshi Inoue was Principal Guest Conductor with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 1977, leading them to participate in the 1980 Hong Kong Music Festival. A year after leaving New Zealand, he was appointed Music Director of Tokyo's New Japan Philharmonic, where he remained until 1988. It was during these years that he made a name for himself within the genre of opera, his many successful productions including the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy as well as Puccini's Madame Butterfly and Mascagni's Iris. In 1986, he was given the honour of conducting the inaugural concert at Suntory Hall. Michiyoshi Inoue was the Music Director of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra between 1990 and the spring of 1998, leading them in May 1997 on a highly successful tour of Europe including much acclaimed performances at the Prague Spring Festival. Invited to conduct the most prestigious orchestras all over the world, Mr Inoue has collaborated in Germany with the orchestras of Berlin (RIAS), Hamburg (NDR), Stuttgart (SDR), Baden Baden (SWDR), Cologne (Gurzenich), and the Dresden Philharmonic. Elsewhere in Europe, he has performed with ensembles including Orchestre National de France, Opera de Marseille, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Dublin, Royal Philharmonic Flanders Orchestra, La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Gulbenkian (Portugal), Orquestra Sinfonica de RTVE (Madrid), Leningrad Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Hungary State Symphony Orchestra. Each season, Michiyoshi Inoue is re-invited back to orchestras in many cities, where he has, with his engaging personality and energy, won the affection and respect of musicians and audiences alike. Engagements in 2005 see him perform with the Romania National Radio Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra and at the New National Theatre Tokyo etc. His concerts with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and Gidon Kremer, his interpretation with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra of Mahler's 9th symphony in 1993, and a year later the 4th with soprano Sylvia McNair have won particular acclaim. During the 1999 and 2000 seasons, Mr. Inoue embarked on a challenging ten-concert Mahler series with the New Japan Philharmonic at Sumida Triphony Hall, Tokyo, resulting in what was hailed as gthe highest level of Mahler performances ever to be heard in Japan.h His CD recordings of Mahler's 4th, 5th and 6th symphonies with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra received similarly high praise, as did the live recording of the world premiere of Thierry Eschaich's Vertiges de la Croix, performed with the Orchestre National de Lille in June 2004 and released on Universal Music. One of Michiyoshi Inoue's daring projects began in April 1999 when he conducted a new production of Puccini's gTurandoth, a co-production between Bunkamura and the Edinburgh Festival. Audiences at the festival were enchanted by this refreshing interpretation and in Japan, fans were treated to performances at Bunkamura for two consecutive years in April 2000 and 2001. At the head of the New Japan Philharmonic he has begun a series of concerts entitled CONCERT OPERA, with productions including Mascagni's gCavalleria Rusticanah and Leoncavallo's gPagliaccih in September in 2000; Korngold's gDie tote Stadth in 2001, and with R. Strauss' gAriadne auf Naxosh in 2002. In 1998, Michiyoshi Inoue was honored with the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres - Chevalier from the government of France. The collaboration with Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa dates back to 1992, when Inoue first conducted the orchestra in Kanazawa's Kanko Kaikan Hall. He has been working with OEK many times over the years, most recently on a Tour to Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Hiroshima in September 2006, in performances featuring Yoko Kikuchi and Baiba Skride. Inoue has also recorded two discs with OEK: the bestseller "Sweet"- a collection of romantic pieces on Deutsche Grammophon, released in 1993; and most recently Mozart's piano concerto No. 20 with pianist Yoko Kikuchi (Avex Classics, 2005).
Dmitrij Kitajenko,Principal Guest Conductor
Dmitrij Kitajenko belongs to the great conductor personalities in our time. Born in Leningrad, he studied music at renowned institutions, such as the Glinka Music School, the conservatories of Leningrad and Moscow. Especially the studies with Prof. Elisabeta Kudriavtseva (from 1958 until 1963) were remarkable for his artistic life as musician and conductor. Having completed the course successfully, he continued his studies taking the post-graduate course at the Moscow Conservatory with Professor Leo Ginzburg and later he underwent a probation period in Vienna at the Academy of Music with Professors Hans Swarowski and Karl Osterreicher with honours. In 1969 Dmitrij Kitajenko won the first International Herbert von Karajan Foundation Competition in Berlin. Another important event of his artistic biography was his collaboration with the outstanding German opera producer Professor W. Felsenstein. Their common production of the historical performance of the opera gCarmenh by Bizet, which was presented first in Moscow and than in Berlin, is a big milestone in the history of opera. Dmitrij Kitajenko was only 29 years old when he was appointed Chief Conductor at the Moscow Opera Theatre. The conductor produced successfully a lot of operas in Moscow and abroad, such at famous opera theatres as Vienna, Munich, Brussels. Simultaneously he toured intensively as a symphonic conductor at home and abroad. The press of Vienna wrote about Dmitrij Kitajenko, gDealing with the orchestra in a very simple, friendly way, he lets the musicians breathe and play freely and reducing the conductors means to minimum he achieves the convincing effecth.Dmitrij Kitajenko made his concert appearance with the best symphony orchestras of the world, including Philharmonic Orchestras of Vienna and Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Prague Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. During his guest tour in USA, when he conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra, the American Newspapers wrote about the great impression produced by the Russian conductor; they called him one of the strongest and distinguished musicians who had lately visited Philadelphia, a man of striking individuality.In 1976, Dmitrij Kitajenko took over the position of principal conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. In 14 years under KitajenkoLs leadership, the Moscow Philharmonic has grown to one of the best orchestras of the world. Together, they have toured the major music centres in Europe, USA and Japan, including such prestige music Festivals as Salzburg, Edinburgh and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.In 1990, Dmitrij Kitajenko left the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, come to the West. He took over the positions of principal conductor, simultaneously of a few orchestras: as Radio Symphony Orchestra in Frankfurt (1990-1996), Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway, one of the oldest European orchestras with an enormous classical traditions (1990-1998). As guest conductor, Maestro Kitajenko continues to appear with many of worldfs great orchestras including the Bayerischer Rundfunk, the Munich Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw, NHK Symphony Orchestra and many famous American Orchestras. Aside from numerous recordings in the former USSR, Dmitrij Kitajenko has furthered his work in the genre with a number of considerably acclaimed CDs in collaboration with Hessischer Rundfunk Orchester, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Danish Radio Orchestra together with recording companies like Teldec, BMG Classics, Capriccio and Chandos. The worth mentioning, especially famous for Dmitrij KitajenkoLs interpretation are complete recordings of the Symphonies by Skriabin, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov and Grieg. Just recently for Capriccio label, Dmitrij Kitajenko recorded a complete set of the symphonies by Dmitry Schostakovich with Gurzenich-Orchester, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of composerfs birthday in 2006. The CD-box with all symphonies was released in April 2005, and received the Midem Classic award and an ECHO in 2006. After a very sucessful collaboration with Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in 2001 (performances in Kanazawa, Tokyo and Nagoya), Kitajenko became the orchestra's Principal Guest Conductor in 2006 .
Gunter Pichler,Honorary Artistic Advisor
Gunter Pichler began his studies at the Academy of Music in Vienna when he was 15, he was appointed Leader of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra when he was 18, and at age 19 Herbert von Karajan engaged him as leader of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 1963 he has been Professor at the University of Music in Vienna and Guest Professor in Cologne since 1993. In 1969 he was awarded the "Mozart Interpretation Prize". In 1970 Gunter Pichler founded the Albas Berg Quartett and has led this famous quartet ever since. Gunter Pichler has embarked upon a career as a conductor to give further expression to his musical ideas, thus complementing his work in the quartet. He made his conducting debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra in January 1989. Besides conducting further concerts with this orchestra, he has received invitations from orchestras in Germany and Holland, including the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and the Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam. Conducting engagements in the UK have included the London Mozart Players and the Northern Sinfonia, and in ,1995 he made his debut conducting the Halle Orchestra in Manchester. In July 1991 he conducted a concert at the Suntory Hall, Tokyo, as part of a prestigious Mozart series given by the NHK Orchestra, made his debut with the Tokyo Philharmonic in August 1993. He has toured Japan twice with London Mozart Players, in 1994 and 1996, and conducted them in several concerts in London and British Festivals in 1997. Recent engagements in Europe have included the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra de Chambre de Lausanne, New Sinfonietta Amsterdam, Orchestra da Camera di Padova, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, and Leipziger Kammerorchester. Mr. Pichler's debut in Kanazawa dates back to 1999. He was subsequently named Principal Guest Conductor of Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, a position he held until 2006. Pichler has recorded three discs with OEK, with works of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. In May 2006, he was made Honorary Artistic Advisor of the orchestra.