is a Japanese violinist and conductor who specializes in

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

. He also plays the viola,

viola d'amore The viola d'amore (; ) is a 7- or 6- stringed musical instrument with additional sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin. Structure and sound The viola d'amore shar ...

and

violoncello da spalla The violoncello da spalla, known informally as the cello da spalla, is a small 5-string cello played braced against the shoulder. Its tuning is the same as the violoncello, with a fifth string added to the upper register, making the open string ...

. He has been teaching at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire (, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Netherlands. Since September 2021, t ...

and the

Toho Gakuen School of Music is a private university, private music school in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. History Toho Gakuen was founded in 1948 in Ichigaya (Tokyo) as the Music School for Children, and two years later moved to Sengawa (current address at Wakabacyo, Chōfu-shi, ...

Career

Terakado began to study the violin at age four. He won a second prize in the All Japan Youth Musical Competition aged fourteen, and studied at the Tōhō Gakuen Daigaku in Tokyo. In 1984 he became

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

of the

Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra The is recognized as the oldest symphony orchestra in Japan. It was founded in 1911 and debuted at the original Matsuzakaya store in Nagoya as the . It relocated to Tokyo in 1938. As of 2024, it has 166 members. The orchestra plays frequently a ...

. When he was nineteen, he got interested in the

Baroque violin A Baroque violin is a violin set up in the manner of the baroque period of music. The term includes original instruments which have survived unmodified since the Baroque period, as well as later instruments adjusted to the baroque setup, and moder ...

. He studied from 1986 with

Sigiswald Kuijken Sigiswald Kuijken (; born 16 February 1944) is a Belgian violinist, violist, and conductor known for playing on period and original instruments. Biography Kuijken was born in Dilbeek, near Brussels. He was a member of the Alarius Ensemble o ...

and graduated as a soloist three years later. From 1987, he has performed as concertmaster in several Baroque orchestras in Europe and Japan, including Les Arts Florissants, La Chapelle Royale,

Collegium Vocale Gent Collegium Vocale Gent is a Belgian musical ensemble of vocalists and supporting instrumentalists, founded by Philippe Herreweghe. The group specializes in historically informed performance. Founding and program Collegium Vocale Gent was founded ...

La Petite Bande La Petite Bande is a Belgium-based ensemble specialising in music of the Baroque and Classical eras played on period instruments. They are particularly known for their recordings of works by Corelli, Rameau, Handel, Bach, Haydn, and Mozart. Hi ...

and the Tokyo Bach-Mozart Orchestra. He has been concertmaster of the

Bach Collegium Japan Bach Collegium Japan (BCJ) is composed of an orchestra and a chorus specializing in Baroque music, playing on period instruments. It was founded in 1990 by Masaaki Suzuki with the purpose of introducing Japanese audiences to European Baroque musi ...

which is active in the complete recordings of

Bach cantatas This is a sortable list of Bach cantatas, the cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. His almost 200 extant cantatas are among his important vocal compositions. Many are known to be lost. Bach composed both church cantatas, most of them for ...

, conducted by

Masaaki Suzuki is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist, conductor, and the founder and music director of the Bach Collegium Japan. With this ensemble he is recording the complete choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach for the Swedish label BIS Records, for whi ...

, playing not only violin, but also

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

and

. As concertmaster of

il Gardellino is a Flemish Baroque music ensemble founded in 1988 by oboist Marcel Ponseele and flutist . The name was derived from a piece by Vivaldi named after the goldfinch (' in Italian). The ensemble plays on period instruments in historically informed p ...

, he conducted a recording of Bach solo cantatas for bass with

Dominik Wörner Dominik Wörner (born 1970) is a German classical bass singer in concert, Lied and opera. He is a specialist in Baroque music, especially works by Bach, but is open to music of other eras including contemporary music. Career Born in Grünstadt ...

, such as ''Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen'', BWV 56. Terakado recorded Bach's

sonatas and partitas for solo violin The Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (BWV 1001–1006) are a set of six works composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. They are sometimes referred to in English as the Sonatas and for Solo Violin in accordance with Bach's headings in the autograph ...

, and also his

Cello Suites The six Cello Suites, BWV 1007–1012, are suites for unaccompanied cello by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). They are some of the most frequently performed solo compositions ever written for cello. Bach most likely composed them during the p ...

, playing them on a

, a small cello played braced against the shoulder. As a conductor, he has performed Baroque operas such as Purcell's '' Dido und Aeneas'' and '' The Fairy Queen'', Rameau's '' Pigmalion'' and excerpts of operas by

Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( – 22 March 1687) was a French composer, dancer and instrumentalist of Italian birth, who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he spent most of his life working in the court o ...

and Mozart. He has been a teacher at the

and the

References

External links

Ryo Terakado
(German) Kirchheimer Konzertwinter {{DEFAULTSORT:Terakado, Ryo 1961 births 21st-century Japanese classical violinists 21st-century Japanese conductors (music) Concertmasters Japanese classical violists Japanese male conductors (music) Living people Male classical violinists Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague 21st-century violists