Guest Conductors

Although born in Osaka where he studied piano, cello, flute and clarinet, he is deeply imbued in western culture having left Japan at eighteen to study in the USA at the University of Cincinnati where he completed a Bachelor Degree in Theory and Composition. Recommended by Istvan Kertesz and Janos Starker, he then moved to Europe to study conducting with Hans Swarowsky at the Hochschule in Vienna (where was also a member of the ORF Choir), with Igor Markevich in France and with Franco Ferrara in Siena before he became assistant to Lovro von Matacic, working with him in Monte Carlo, Milan and Vienna. Since winning a Special Award at the Fitelberg International Conducting Competition in Katowice, Poland, Takuo Yuasa has frequently conducted the major orchestras there, including the Warsaw National Philharmonic and Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestras. His commanding versatility is recognised by orchestras around the world who engage him to conduct standard core repertoire as well as less well-known pieces by major composers.

Takuo Yuasa debuts with the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra amongst other engagements this season and has recently conducted the Orchestre National de France, Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música and Aarhus alongside appearing with several major Japanese orchestras including the Japan Philharmonic, Osaka Philharmonic and New Japan Philharmonic orchestras in engagements that include a subscription series concert with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony. He is also Associate Professor, Performing Arts Centre, Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music where he is closely associated with the Geidai Philharmonia Orchestra and the university’s wonderful new Sogaduko Concert Hall.

Outside Japan he has conducted the Oslo Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, London Philharmonic (“...La Mer is often mistreated as a flashy showcase for virtuoso orchestras but here Yuasa enticed the LPO to play with chamber-like intimacy and a delicate transparency …… It is difficult to imagine a more atmospheric, dramatic and sensitively played La Mer”), New Zealand Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Brabants Orkest, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Nacional do Porto, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony and Queensland Orchestras and in the UK he has been a frequent visitor to the Hallé Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra whilst his musicianship and infectious leadership attracts several European music conservatoires and the national youth orchestras of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eire to engage him to conduct a new generation of performers.

Takuo Yuasa has a most successful recording career as a Naxos artist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and others. He attracts fine reviews (“...Yuasa’s accounts [of Webern’s orchestral pieces] have the spare, skeletal feel and expressive economy that makes them very rewarding indeed. An outstanding achievement.” Classics Today) and on EMI in Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (“As with Haitink, there is a feeling of freshness and an absence of routine in Yuasa’s performance.” The Gramophone) in a wide range of repertoire which covers Britten, Macmillan and Rawsthorne, Webern and Schoenberg, Honegger, Vieuxtemps, Macdowell, Schubert, Pärt, Górecki, Glass and Nyman alongside an emerging strand of Japanese composers who include Matsumura, Mayuzumi, Ohki, Bekku, Yashiro, Moroi, Akutagawa and Yamada. He has also recorded the complete symphonies of Brahms and Schumann live from concerts with the Osaka Century Orchestra for release in Japan on CD.

Takuo Yuasa received the prestigious Iue Cultural Award in October 2007, created by Toshio Iue (founder of SANYO), for his exceptional contribution to music and for his international artistic achievements.

Previous Guest Conductors

1994 - En Shao
1995 - Alexandre Myrat
1996 - Takuo Yuasa
1997 - Gunther Bauer-Schenk
1998 - Nicholas Braithwaite
1999 - Gunther Bauer-Schenk
2000 - Andrew Schuleman
2001 - Takuo Yuasa
2002 - En Shao
2003 - Yan Pascal Tortelier
2004 - Nicholas Braithwaithe
2005 - Vasily Petrenko
2006 - Takuo Yuasa
2007 - André de Ridder
2008 - Takuo Yuasa

2009 - Garry Walker

2010 - Nicholas Braithwaite

2011 - Garry Walker

2012 - JoAnn Falletta

          Fergus Sheil