AKIRA NISHIMURA

Music Director

Mr. Nishimura was born in Osaka 1953. He studied composition and musical theory to post graduate level at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. In 1977 he won the first of his numerous later prize winnings at the Queen Elizabeth International Music Composition Competition with HETEROPHONY for string quartet (1975) and the Luigi Dallapiccola Composition Award with MUTAZIONI (1977). In 1980 KECAK (1979) was selected as the best work at the International Rostrum of Composers , and he won awards at the ISCM World Music Days with ODE for EKSTASIS (1981) in 1982, then in 1984, 1988 and 1990. The Otaka Prizes were awarded to him in 1988 for HETEROPHONY for two pianos and orchestra(1987), in 1992 for A RING OF LIGHTS, double concerto for violin, piano and orchestra, and in 1993 for INTO THE LIGHTS OF THE ETERNAL CHAOS. In 2001, he was awarded the ExxonMobil Music Prize and in 2004, the Suntory Music Award. He was composer-in-residence of the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa (1993-94) and of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra (1994-97).

Nishimura principally employs heterophony, a characteristic device of Asian traditional music, thereby subtly transforming the intervals, rhythm and melody of his dense multi-layered textures. Though similar to ‘micropolyphony’ of Ligeti, an Asian perspective informs his technique. Some works are heterophonic melodically, such as HETEROPHONY (1975), and some rhythmically, as in KECAK; the superimposition of trills, tremolos and harmonics contributes to the more complex textures of his later works.

He has been commissioned from many overseas music festivals and ensembles such as ULTIMA Contemporary Music Festival Oslo, Octobre en Normandie, Arditti Quartet, Kronos Quartet, ELISION Ensemble, Hannover Society of Contemporary Music and so on.

He is currently a Professor at the Tokyo College of Music and the Musical Director of the Izumi Sinfonietta Osaka, KUSATSU International Summer Music Academy & Festival.

GEMMA BERTAGNOLLI

soprano

Born in Bozen, Gemma Bertagnolli was a winner of both the AsLiCo and Francecso Viñas Competitions. Her career has already taken her to major Opera Houses and Concert Halls including the Teatro La Scala, Milan, the Teatro La Fenice, Venice, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris, the Rome Opera, the Maggio Musicale, Fiorentino, the Opernhaus Zurich, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome, the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sansoucci, and the La Coruña, Pesaro, Salzburg and Wexford Festivals.Her concert repertoire ranges from Bach, Hendel, Pergolesi and Vivaldi to Mozart, the 9th symphony of Beethoven and the 2nd and 4th Symphonies of Mahler. It is above all as a singer of Baroque Music that she is most celebrated. Her operatic repertoire includes Sophie Der Rosenkavalier, Oscar Un ballo in maschera and Nannetta Falstaff. Conductors with whom she has worked in opera and concert include Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti. From 2006 she taught “canto barocco” in many italian conservatorys In 2001 she taught in Conservatorio Martini in Bologna and Conservatorio Rossini in Pesaro. From 2011 cooperates at the Hochschule für Künste- University of Art Bremen, holding masters about the Italian pre-classical vocality.In 2011 and 2012 she taught at summer courses of early music in Salzburg – Mozarteum. She periodically holds short masters by many Italian conservatories. She joined Kusatsu International Summer Music Academy & Festival from 2013.

BRUNO CANINO

piano

Born in Naples. Studies Piano at the Conservatory of Naples. Diplomas in piano and composition in Milano. Performances in the most important concert halls and festivals in Europe, America, Australia, Japan and China. Piano duo since 50 years with A. Ballista and member of the “Trio di Milano”. Projects with renowned artists like S. Accardo, U. Ughi, L. Harrell, I. Perlman, V. Mullova, P. Amoyal. Artistic director of the Giovine Orchestra Genovese, the Campus Internazionale di Musica in Latina. Between 1999 and 2001 head of the music section of the Biennale in Venice. Joint projects, among others, with P. Boulez, L. Berio, Stockhausen, G. Ligeti, B. Maderna, L. Nono and S. Bussotti. Numerous first time performances. Under the direction of Abbado, Muti, Chailly, Sawallisch, Berio, Boulez, he played with world famous orchestras. He was professor for 24 years at the Milan Conservatory, and for 11 years at the Bern Musikhochschule, and now teaching at the Fundacion Instituto de musica de Camara in Madrid. He often invited as a juror in many major competitions in Europe. Released many records and CDs, for instance with Bach’s “Goldberg Variationen” and Debussy’s complete works for piano. He published a book called “Vademacum per il pianista da camera” from Passigli Editor in 1997. He recently recorded the Complete Piano Works by Chabrier with Anima Records in France.

HIROMI OKADA

piano

He studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo where he graduated with the Highest honours. In 1984 he won first prizes in three international piano competitions in Barcelona, Tokyo and Pretoria, and then moved to London to study with Maria Curucio before making his Wigmore Hall début in 1985 and receiving outstanding critical acclaim — “undoubtedly a star of the future” (Daily Telegraph). Hilary Finch has commented in The Times, “A technique of massive assurance, imaginatively developed to articulate a passionately engaged musical understanding” Recently, as well as touring extensively in Japan and throughout Europe, he has appeared as soloist with the Philharmonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and major Japanese orchestras. His CDs are regularly released from Camerata Tokyo and receiving remarkable evaluations. He cooperates as professor at the Toho Gakuen Graduate School since 2015.

CHRISTOPHER HINTERHUBER

piano

Born in Austria, Christopher Hinterhuber studied with Alex Papenberg, Rudolf Kehrer, Lazar Berman, Avo Kouyoumdjian and Heinz Medjimorec at the University for Music and performing Arts in Vienna and the Accademia “Incontri col Maestro“ in Imola. He has won numerous top prizes and honors at the international piano competitions in Leipzig (Bach), Saarbrücken (Bach), Pretoria (Unisa), Zurich (Geza Anda) and Vienna (Beethoven) among others. As “Rising Star” 2002/03, he performed with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja in the international series at the Carnegie Hall, New York and in all important musical centers in Europe. His special project was the sound recording (Schubert, Rachmaninov, Schönberg) and filming (his hands) for the french-austrian movie “La pianiste” based on a novel by Elfriede Jelinek and directed by Michael Haneke, which was awarded the Great Prize of the Jury in Cannes in 2001. He frequently plays chamber music with many members of the Vienna Philharmonic including Concertmasters Albena Danailova and Rainer Honeck and from the season 2012/13 he joined the Altenberg Piano Trio, which has its own series in the Musikverein in Vienna. His wide variety of performances brought him an international recognition. He often gives master classes in Japan, Europe and South America and is professor for piano at the University for Music and performing Arts in Vienna since 2010. (215)
http://christopherhinterhuber.com/

WERNER HINK

violin

Born in Vienna in 1943. He studied the violin at the Vienna Academy of Music under Prof. Franz Samohyl where he graduated from at the first on the list. Engaged with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra as a first violinist in 1964, when he formed the Vienna String Quartet together with the members of the orchestra and appeared at concerts of the Musikverein in Vienna, etc. The Vienna String Quartet began recording for RCA and Camerata in 1973, and since then left almost 50 recordings including Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” which won the Record Academy Award in Japan. The great success of their performance owes much to Hink’s solo violin. 1974 to 2008 he was the first Concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. He is the leader of the Vienna String Quartet and the Vienna Octet. In 1982, he was installed as a professor at the Vienna Conservatory succeeding Prof. Samohyl.

MARKUS WOLF

violin

Born 1962 in Vienna. Since 1989 Principal concertmaster at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich after the same position at the Vienna Symphoniker. He studied at the Music University in Vienna with G.Pichler, and took further lessons with M.Rostal, N.Milstein, O.Shumsky and S.Vegh. 1985 he established the piano trio “Beethoven Trio Vienna” and toured through Europe, Japan, Canada, Mexico and the USA. As a soloist and chamber musician, he gave concerts with the “Alban Berg Quartett”, W.Sawallisch, Sir C.Davis, Z.Mehta, M.Viotti, P.Schneider, K.Nagano, I.Bolton and Ph.Entremont. Many CDs for EMI, JVC, Camerata, Farao Classics and triptychon. 2012 he won the “ECHO Klassik” Price. 1997-2002 he regularly appeared as guest leader of the London Symphony Orchestra. He has been teaching at the Vienna Music University (1983-1989) , at the Munich Richard-Srauss Conservatory (2000-2008) and has been D.Zsigmondy´s successor at the Musikhochschule Augsburg (2005-2008). Since 2008, he is teaching at the Musikhochschule Munich. Markus Wolf plays the “Vollrath-Stradivarius” from 1722.

PAOLO FRANCESCHINI

violin

Studied violin under Arnaldo Apostoli at the F. Morlacchi Conservatory in Perugia and graduated there with the maximum number of votes and rave reviews. He went on to the Academy of St. Cecillia in Rome, where he studied with the prestigious teacher Pina Carmirelli. Dedicating himself largely to chamber music, he studied with Riccardo Brengola and Franco Rossi. At the same time, he began playing chamber music in concert with the piano or other instruments. In Italy he has played for prestigious concert societies and recorded extensively with RAI. Outside Italy he has played many concerts in Germany, Austria, Romania, Spain, Mexico, Egypt and Greece, winning high praise from both critics and audiences. He was Concertmaster and producer of a string orchestra, “Sinfonia Perusina”, and the Symphony Orchestra of Umbria. He is now a professor in the violin department of the F. Morlacchi Conservatory. He plays a precious Marino Capicchioni, generously donated by Pina Carmirelli.

SIEGFRIED FÜHRLINGER

viola

Born 1939 in Oberösterreich. First he studied violin with his father and after finishing school, studied with Prof. Franz Samohyl at the Music Academy in Vienna. 1965 changed into viola. 1967 engaged as solo viola through Wolfgang Sawallisch with the Vienna Syumphony Orchestra. At the same time he entered the ensemble “Concentus Musicus” under Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Since 1971 professor at the Vienna University of Music. Students are prizewinners at the International Viola Competition in Budapest, ARD-Munich, Naumburg-New York and others. 1980 established the “Vienna String Sextet”, and toured with this ensemble in Europe, Scandinavia, Japan, USA, Canada, China. Recordings for Camerata Tokyo and EMI. Video-appearance through Unitel-ARD. Concerts at the Salzburg Festival, Vienna Fest Week, Edinburgh Festival, Berlin Fest Week, yearly concerts in London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam.

He has cooperated as a visiting professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts in 2008.

WOLFGANG BOETTCHER

violoncello

Started his career as prize-winner of the International Music Competition, Munich. He played with many important orchestras and in the centers of the musical world (Carnegie-Hall, New York, Tschaikovsky-Hall, Moscow, Bunka Kaikan, Tokyo, Berliner Philharmonie), and with conductors as Herbert von Karajan, Sergiu Celibidache, Seiji Ozawa, Daniel Barenboim and others. Yehudi Menuhin, Witold Lutos- lavski and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau had a deep influence on him as an artistic personality. Up to summer 1976 he was solo cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. He left this position to devote exclusively to his career as a soloist and chambermusic player and overtook a professorship at the Berlin Universität der Künste. He made first performances of Lutoslavski, Dutilleur, A.Reimann, Klebe and others. Many excellent young cellists come from his class of Universität der Künste.

MARIO ANCILLOTTI

Flute

He began his musical formation at the ‘Conservatorio di Firenze’, where he
had the opportunity to work with great musicians such as L. Dallapiccola and
P. Bellugi. In 1970, he held the position of 1st Flute in the ‘Orchestra
della Rai di Roma’ with Severino Gazzelloni, and then in Santa Cecilia.
Eight years later, he left the orchestra, to dedicate himself entirely to
perform as a soloist. He played with numerous recognized musicians; S.
Accardo, R. Muti, L. Berio and so on. For over twenty years, he taught at
the ‘Corsi Speciali di Perfezionamento’ of the ‘Scuola di Musica di Fiesole’
and has been teaching at the ‘Scuola Universitaria di Musica’ of Lugano,
Switzerland for the past 20 years. He also holds courses and seminars in
different parts of the world. He is the director and the animator of ‘Nuovo
Contrappunto’, which is an ensemble group that was born at the Fiesole
School. The projects born and publicized through ‘Nuovo Contrappunto’, have
had the praise and encouragement of the most important Italian musical
societies. This is the highlight of his career as a musician, which has
never been limited to the performance of music, but also includes musical
direction and organization. His enthusiastic approach for music provided him
the opportunity for conducting orchestras and more solo activities as a
well-rounded musician.

THOMAS INDERMÜHLE

oboe

Born in Bern in 1951, Thomas Indermühle is the scion of a Swiss family of musicians. He studied with Heinz Holliger at the Staatliche Musikhochschule in Freiburg in Breisgau, and with Maurice Bourgue in Paris. Afterwards, he spent several years as solo oboist in the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1974 he was awarded a prize at the International Competition in Prague, and in 1976 he won the International ARD Competition in Munich. Since then, he has appeared as a soloist in almost all European countries, in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea and Australia. Leading composers as Manfred Trojahn, Wolfgang Rihm and Akira Nishimura have written oboe concertos for Thomas. Of great importance to him are also his “Ensemble Couperin”, his activity as a conductor, and his work with his students. Indermühle has been responsible for an oboe class at the Zürich Conservatorium ZHdK since 1984, and in 1989 he was appointed professor at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe. He has recorded for Philips, EMI, Novalis and Camerata Tokyo.

PETER SCHMIDL

clarinet

Born in Olmütz, Czech Republic, Peter Schmidl serves as Principal Clarinet of the Wiener Philharmoniker, as did his father and grandfather.  In 1965, he joined the Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper and the Wiener Philharmoniker and became Solo Clarinetist three years later.  He assumed additional responsibilities with the orchestra as General Manager from 2001 to 2005 and was named Doyen of the Wiener Staatsoper in September 2006. He has made solo appearances with the Wiener Philharmoniker, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Wiener Kammer Orchester, the Tonkünstler-Orchester, the New Japan Philharmonic, and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra/DR and a lot of other fine orchesteres under such distinguished conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Nicolaus Harnoncourt, Christoph von Dohnány, Riccardo Muti, André Previn, Karl Böhm, and James Levine.  His passion for chamber music is highlighted by multiple concert appearances with various ensembles formed by the members of the Wiener Philharmoniker, including the “Wiener Ringensemble, the “Wiener Oktett” and the “Wiener Bläser Solisten”. His discography includes recordings with “Wiener Philharmoniker” : Mozart Clarinet concerto on DVD and CD under Leonard Bernstein ,Bernstein’s “Prelude, Fugue and Riffs” ,on DVD and CD , Richard Strauss: Duett Concertino, under Andre Previn , the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante under Karl Böhm .

Many chamber music CDs recorded by Decca, Camerata Tokyo and DGG.

IAN BOUSFIELD

trombone

Born in York, England. He began to play the trombone at the age of seven. In 1979 he became the youngest winner of the London Symphony Orchestra Music Scholarship and in 1980 he joined the European Youth Orchestra under C. Abbado where he stayed for two years. After only six months at the Guildhall School of Music in London he became principal trombone with the Halle Orchestra in Manchester and in 1988 he was appointed principal trombone of the LSO, only the fourth in the Orchestra’s history, a position he held until September 2000 when he joined the Wiener Staatsoper. He also has appeared as soloist with amongst others: the Vienna Philharmonic, the LSO, the Wiener Hofkapelle, with renowned conductors such as: R. Muti, M. T. Thomas, Sir N. Marriner, M. Bamert and K. Nagano. He is currently Professor of Trombone at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern, Switzerland, a position he has held since September 2011. Having had a relationship with the Royal Academy of Music in London since 1992, where he has been awarded an Honorary Membership. In December 2003 he was accepted into the Verein of the Vienna Philharmonic, the first ever member to come from the U.K. The following year he was appointed principal trombone by the Wiener Hofmusikkapelle. His list of former students includes some of our current most successful players in orchestras around the world.

CLAUDIO BRIZI

organ

Studied under W. v. d. Pol at the Morlacchi Conservatory of Music. He then specialized further with J. Uriol, M. Radulescu and M. Morgan. He also studied harpsichord with A. Conti at the G. B. Martini Conservatory in Bologna. He carries out intense concert activity as a harpsichordist, organist and conductor. As a soloist his repertoire of interpretations is extensive; from Bach and Haydn’s concertos to the works of De Falla and F. Martin, Mozart’s church sonatas and organ concertos of Bossi and Poulenc. For many years a composer himself, he takes particular note of the music of this century, collaborating with both Italian and foreign composers. Of these a number have dedicated pieces that he gave world premier performances. His discography ranges from the late Renaissance to the present day. He is active also as both a musicologist and an organologist. Since many years he is committed in research and performances involving the so-called Hybrid Keyboard instruments, such as the Claviorgan, the Harmonium-Celesta, and the Harmoniumklavier. He is professor for organ and organ composition at the Conservatorio di Musica “Stanislao Giacomantonio” in Cosenza. He gives master classes throughout Spain, Italy, Germany and Japan. He is also working diligently to research for the Claviorgan, the Harmonium-Celesta, and the Harmoniumklavier. His collection of early keyboard instruments ranges from Hammerklavier to harmonium, from harpsichord to Pedalpiano.

PANOCHA QUARTET

string quartet

Formed in 1968, while its members were still students at Prague Conservatory. 1975 won 1st prize at the Prague Spring International String Quartet Competition. Since that times the Quartet has achieved international fame progressing from one triumph to another. The Quartet has participated at important international festivals as Edinburgh, Salzburg, Prague, Kusatsu, Menton, Dubrovnik, Tel Aviv, Kuhmo and Mondsee. In 1976, awarded the Bordeaux Gold Medal and in 1982 came a Supraphon Gold Disc.1983 the Grand Prix Academy Charles Cros was received in Paris for the recording of Martinů’s Quartet Nos. 4 and 6. 2008 the MIDEM Cannes Classical Awards were awarded for the recordings of Dvorak’s quartet No. 10 and the Cypresses. Panocha Quartet places particular emphasis on Czech music, especially the works of Smetana, Dvořák, Janáček and Martinů. The Quartet follows the great Czech string quartet tradition, founded by the České (Bohemian) Quartet and continued by the Smetana, Janáček and Vlach quartets.

Jiří Panocha, 1st violin

Pavel Zejfart, 2nd violin

Miroslav Sehnoutka, viola

Jaroslav Kulhan, violoncello

MILAN TURKOVIC

conductor

He originates from an Austro-Croatian family and lives in Vienna. He is one of the few internationally known bassoon soloists. Since around 20 years he has been mainly active as a conductor. He has conducted orchestras such as Vienna Symphony, Rome Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Nagoya Philharmonic, Prague Philharmonia and other major orchestras. So far he conducted eight CDs for the labels Camerata Tokyo, Capriccio, Dabringhaus and so on. His latest CD, conducting Selmer Saxharmonic, received the German “ECHO KLASSIK” award. In 2009, Japanese magazine “Ongaku no tomo” listed him among the most interesting conductors. He was a founding member of the “Ensemble Wien-Berlin” .

He performed as a bassoon soloist in almost all the musical centers of the world with numerous renowned orchestras (e.g. Vienna Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony). He also has toured the United States with Wynton Marsalis who dedicated his quintet for bassoon and string quartet, “Meeelaan” (recorded on Camerata Tokyo CD) to Turkovic. He left his positions at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New York in 2012 and his position at Concentus Musicus Wien in 2013 in order to focus his work entirely on conducting.. Right after Kusatsu he will conduct performances at Munich Radio, the final concert of the 25th International Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt and at Bratislava Festival.

FUMIAKI KURIYAMA

chorus conductor

Fumiaki Kuriyama (b. 1942) is one of the most active and famous choral conductors in Japan. He has gained his reputation by excellent performances of contemporary Japanese works, his energetic commission activities, and his phenomenal marks in the All Japan Chorus Competition. He was awarded the Grand Prix in Tolosa International Choral Contest (Spain) in 1994, and European Grand Prize of Choral Chant at Arezzo (Italy) in 1995, with Coro Kallos. He was invited to the Oregon Bach Festival (USA) in 1992, to the Polyphonic Choir Meeting in Citta di Fano (Italy) in 1993, to the third World Symposium on Choral Music (Canada) in 1993, and in 1996 (Sydney). He was invited to the Tolosa International Choral Contest in 1998 to sit on the jury. Now he is a professor at Musashino Academia Musicae.