The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, together with music director Jonathan Nott, has been attracting attention as a leader in the Japanese orchestra world.《Elektra in Concert Style(2023)》won the 1st prize in the “Top 10 Concert 2023” following the 2nd prize of《Salome in Concert Style(2022)》on Ongaku no Tomo magazine as well as the Best Recording of Music Pen club Japan Award for Opera & Orchestra category and Tokyo Symphony Chorus, Orchestra’s amateur chorus also won the prize for Chamber & Chorus category.

Highlights of past seasons with Mo. Nott include Symphony 9 by Beethoven filmed by 45 cameras, the largest record of the orchestra history live-streamed nationwide, Gurre-Lieder by Schoenberg celebrating 15th Anniversary of Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall, TSO’s home and Mozart’s Da Ponte Operas in concert style. In March 2020, the live-streamed concert without audience on nico-nico Live Channel which attracted more than 200,000 viewers nationwide, has been a mega-hit in Japan.

Outside of Japan, the orchestra has performed 80 concerts in 59 cities since 1976. The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1946 as Toho Symphony Orchestra, and changed its name to Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in April 1951, and has a reputation for giving first performances of a number of contemporary music and opera, and has been regularly performing various operas and ballets at the New National Opera Theatre, Tokyo since its opening in 1997.

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The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, together with music director Jonathan Nott, has been attracting attention as a leader in the Japanese orchestra world.《Elektra in Concert Style(2023)》won the 1st prize in the “Top 10 Concert 2023” following the 2nd prize of《Salome in Concert Style(2022)》on Ongaku no Tomo magazine as well as the Best Recording of Music Pen club Japan Award for Opera & Orchestra category and Tokyo Symphony Chorus, Orchestra’s amateur chorus also won the prize for Chamber & Chorus category.

Highlights of past seasons with Mo. Nott include Symphony 9 by Beethoven filmed by 45 cameras, the largest record of the orchestra history live-streamed nationwide, Gurre-Lieder by Schoenberg celebrating 15th Anniversary of Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall, TSO’s home and Mozart’s Da Ponte Operas in concert style. In 2018, TSO launched “TSO Music & Video Subscription”, first-ever digital project in Japanese Orchestras, which provides live-concert video and music as well as CD recording. In March 2020, the live-streamed concert without audience on nico-nico Live Channel which attracted more than 200,000 viewers nationwide, has been a mega-hit in Japan.

Outside of Japan, the orchestra has performed 80 concerts in 59 cities since 1976. In 2016, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra celebrated its 70th anniversary and took a European tour including the concert at Musikverein Großer Saal in Vienna with Mo. Nott. In 2024, The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra Asia Project has launched to improve music culture throughout Asia.

The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1946 as Toho Symphony Orchestra, and changed its name to Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in April 1951, and has a reputation for giving first performances of a number of contemporary music and opera. Through these activities, the orchestra has received most of Japan’s major music awards such as the Minister of Education Award, the Grand Prix of Kyoto Music Award, Mainichi Art Award, Agency for Cultural Affairs Art Award, Suntory Music Award and Kawasaki City Culture Award.

Since becoming the resident orchestra of the City of Kawasaki in 2004, and a semi-resident orchestra agreement with the City of Niigata in 1999, the orchestra has been enthusiastic for school concerts and community concerts. The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra has been regularly performing various operas and ballets at the New National Opera Theatre, Tokyo since its opening in 1997.

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The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, together with music director Jonathan Nott, has been attracting attention as a leader in the Japanese orchestra world. 《Elektra in Concert Style(2023)》won the 1st prize in the “Top 10 Concert 2023” following the 2nd prize of《Salome in Concert Style(2022)》on Ongaku no Tomo magazine as well as the Best Recording of Music Pen club Japan Award for the recording of Symphony No. 10 by Mahler and Symphony No.9 by Bruckner in 2018. Highlights of past seasons with Mo. Nott include Symphony 9 by Beethoven; Gurre-Lieder by Schoenberg celebrating 15th Anniversary of Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall, TSO’s home; and Mozart’s Da Ponte Operas in concert style. In the orchestra ranking conducted by a music magazine in 2008, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra gained the highest positioning among Japanese orchestras.

In 2018, TSO launched “TSO Music & Video Subscription”, first-ever digital project in Japanese Orchestras, which provides live-concert video and music as well as CD recording. In March 2020, the live-streamed concert without audience on nico-nico Live Channel which attracted more than 200,000 viewers nationwide, has been a mega-hit in Japan.

The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra has a reputation for giving first performances of a number of new contemporary music and opera. Some of the major new works that it has performed in recent years include Helmut Lachenmann’s opera The Little Match Girl (2000, Japanese premiere, concert-style), Toshiro Mayuzumi’s opera Kojiki (Day of the Gods, 2001, Japan premiere, concert-style), John Adam’s El Nino (2003, Japan premiere), John Adam’s opera A Flowering Tree (2008, Japan premiere, centre-stage style), Janacek Opera Series, Schubert’s Symphony Zyklus (2008), Schoenberg Project (2011) and others, which have attracted attention in the music circle every year. Through these activities, the orchestra has received most of Japan’s major music awards such as the Minister of Education Award, Ongaku no Tomo Sha Award, the Grand Prix of Kyoto Music Award, Mainichi Art Award, Agency for Cultural Affairs Art Award, Mobil Music Award, Suntory Music Award and the Special Prize of Kenzo Nakajima Music Award. In 2013, the orchestra received the Kawasaki City Culture Award for 2013, which is given to an individual or organization in recognition of their remarkable efforts in developing and advancing culture and the arts in Kawasaki City.

Since becoming the resident orchestra of the City of Kawasaki in July 2004, the Tokyo Symphony has been holding Kawasaki subscription concerts, the Masterpiece Classics series, music appreciation classes, citizen’s concerts as well as visiting and performing at facilities in various parts of the city. It has also signed a semi-resident orchestra agreement with the City of Niigata, where it has been performing subscription concerts, special concerts, concerts for fifth graders and others since 1999.

The orchestra performs over 160 times a year, combining both self-produced performances and commissioned performances. It has been playing at New National Theatre, Tokyo’s opera and ballet performances from January through March every year as one of the two regularly performing orchestras.

The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra has also worked on concerts for children from an early stage. It received the 2010 Himawari Medal of Honor in the Group Category, highly commended for “making significant contributions to carrying on music culture to the next generation” through the “Orchestra Experience from Age Zero” project (held since 2007). The “Subscription Concert for Children” series (held since 2001), presented in collaboration with Suntory Hall, has drawn attention not only from the music circle but also from various fields for its innovative idea of presenting the first subscription concert for children in Japan.

Outside of Japan, the orchestra has performed 80 concerts in 59 cities since 1976. In 2016, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra celebrated its 70th anniversary and took a European tour including the concert at Musikverein Großer Saal in Vienna with Mo. Nott. In 2024, The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra Asia Project has launched to improve music culture throughout Asia.

The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra has also been actively engaged in recording and broadcasting projects. It has released albums from several labels such as TOKYO SYMPHONY Label, N&F Label, King Records, EXTON and Nippon Columbia Label. Orchestra won the 21st Music Pen Club Japan Awards three times (2009, 2010 and 2018) for concert performance and CD recordings. The orchestra also regularly performs on TV Asahi’s programme “Untitled Concert”.

The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1946 as Toho Symphony Orchestra, worked under the management of “Toho”, a motion picture company. In April 1951, changed its name to Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.

The orchestra has Kazuyoshi Akiyama and Hubert Soudant as Conductor Laureate, Keitaro Harada as Resident Conductor, and Naoto Otomo as Honorary Guest Conductor. The line-up of conductors who have conducted for the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in the past include distinguished names such as Arvid Jansons, Hidemaro Konoye and Masashi Ueda.

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With his immense charisma and inspired programming drawing on a symphonic repertoire that extends from Schubert and Bruckner to Mahler and Shostakovich, and to the very edge of creation in the world of contemporary music, conductor Jonathan Nott shares his musical and human experience at the highest level. Jonathan Nott has been Music Director of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra since 2014. Together with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, he led ‘Elektra’ in concert style to the best concert in the ‘Concert Top Ten’ by Ongaku no Tomo Magazine and ‘Salome’ to the ‘Best 10 Performances’ by Mainichi Classic Navi as well as the Music Pen Club Music Prize in 2020. He began his career at the opera houses in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden where he conducted all major works of the repertoire including Wagner’s complete Ring cycle. Jonathan Nott has an extensive and eclectic catalog of highly acclaimed recordings including works by Mahler, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra on Octavia Records.

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With his immense charisma and inspired programming drawing on a symphonic repertoire that extends from Schubert and Bruckner to Mahler and Shostakovich, and to the very edge of creation in the world of contemporary music, conductor Jonathan Nott shares his musical and human experience at the highest level.

Watching and listening to him, we are witness to an exceptional talent who invites his musicians and audiences to accompany him on a journey where seemingly opposite worlds are transformed into deep emotions and rigorous intellectual reflection.

Jonathan Nott began his career at the opera houses in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden where he conducted all major works of the repertoire including Wagner’s complete Ring cycle.

Well known for the power, vigor and clarity of his interpretations of Mahler, Jonathan Nott was invited in 2012 to conduct the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Debussy, Schoenberg and Ravel, resulting in his appointment as Music Director of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in 2014 season. Together with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Jonathan Nott led ‘Elektra’ in concert style to the best concert in the ‘Concert Top Ten’ by Ongaku no Tomo Magazine and ‘Salome’ to the ‘Best 10 Performances’ by Mainichi Classic Navi as well as the Music Pen Club Music Prize in 2020.

He has simultaneously held the post of Music and Artistic Director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande since 2017. He also brings inspiration to young artists through his loyal and long term commitment to the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and to the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra.

Jonathan Nott has conducted most of the renowned contemporary orchestras and formations, working alongside Györgi Ligeti, Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Helmut Lachenmann and Karlheinz Stockhausen, as well as composers of his own generation.

What’s more, his knowledge and understanding of the operatic repertoire make his performances in this sector, marked by their unerring, deeply moving and spiritual musical style, poignantly memorable.

He has an extensive and eclectic catalog of highly acclaimed recordings including works by Mahler, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra on Octavia Records, the complete orchestral works of Ligeti with the Berlin Phil., the complete symphonic works of Schubert and Mahler with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, and Mahler’s Song of the Earth with the Vienna Phil. and Jonas Kaufmann.

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One of the most dynamic conductors of his generation, Lorenzo Viotti is currently Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dutch National Opera, where he conducts two much-anticipated productions in the 2024/2025 season: The Amsterdam premiere of Barrie Kosky’s celebrated Die Fledermaus and a new production of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes, directed by Barbara Horáková. He also continues his relationship with Oper Zürich with a new production of Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt, directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov.
His symphonic season features his return to the United States for his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In Europe, to deepen his relationships with leading symphony orchestras, he returns to the Filharmonica della Scala, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Gürzenich Orchestra, Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon, where he was Chief Conductor from 2018-2021. Furthermore, he makes his debut with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and closes the season with concerts with the Vienna Symphony. Viotti concludes his tenure as Music Director of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra with six varied programs in the Concertgebouw and a tour within the Netherlands.
Highly esteemed as symphonic guest conductor, Lorenzo Viotti has worked with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including e.g. Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Berlin, Saxon State Orchestra Dresden, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra.
Born into a French-Italian musical family in Lausanne, Lorenzo Viotti studied piano, singing, and percussion in Lyon and attended orchestral conducting courses with Professor Georg Mark in Vienna, where he also performed as percussionist with numerous renowned orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic. He completed his conducting studies with Nicolas Pasquet at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar and has won several prestigious conducting competitions, most notably the Nestlé Young Conductors Award at the Salzburg Festival in 2015, the 11th International Conducting Competition of the Cadaqués Orchestra, and the MDR Symphony Orchestra Conductors Competition, and in 2017 was honoured as “Newcomer of the Year” at the International Opera Awards in London.

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Yoshitaka Hirooka was born in Kobe, Japan in 1974. He spent childhood in Paris, France, and started playing the violin at the age of 3. He graduated from Rokko Junior High School and Music Department of Nishinomiya High School (Hyogo). He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music (Boston, USA) while a student at Tokyo University of the Arts. After graduating, he joined the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Concertmaster in 1998. He became Managing Director on 1 August 2022 after serving as TSO assistant Concertmaster for 24 years.