The (also known as Tokyō (都響)) is a

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese orchestra based in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Their offices are based at the

Tokyo Bunka Kaikan The is a Japanese concert hall located in Ueno Park, Taitō, Tokyo. Designed by Japanese architect Kunio Maekawa, it was built in 1961 and renovated in 1998–99. Its larger hall seats 2303 people, and its small hall seats 649. It is operated b ...

, a concert venue owned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The orchestra performs regularly at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan,

Suntory Hall The is a concert venue in the central Akasaka district of Tokyo, Japan. Part of the Ark Hills complex, it consists of a main concert hall, widely considered one of the finest in the world for its acoustics – Herbert von Karajan called it “ ...

and

Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre is a centre for the performing arts located in Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. History The theatre opened in 1990 and is operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture. Yoshinobu Ashihara was the architect, with a ...

History

The

Tokyo Metropolitan Government The is the government of the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis. One of the 47 Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Japan, the government consists of a popularly elected governor and assembly. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, headquarters build ...

established the orchestra in 1965, in the aftermath of the

Tokyo Olympics Tokyo Olympics may refer to: * 1940 Summer Olympics, Games of the XII Olympiad, cancelled due to World War II * 1964 Summer Olympics, Games of the XVIII Olympiad * 2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an ...

(1964 Summer Olympics). Heinz Hofmann was the first titled conductor of the orchestra, serving from 1965 to 1967. Through the work of Hiroshi Wakasugi,

Eliahu Inbal Eliahu Inbal (; born 16 February 1936, Jerusalem) is an Israeli conductor. Inbal has enjoyed a career of international renown, conducting leading orchestras around the worlHe has conducted a wide variety of works. He is best known for his interpr ...

and

Gary Bertini Gary Bertini (; May 1, 1927 – March 17, 2005) was one of the most important Israeli musicians and conductors. In 1978 he was awarded the Israel Prize for Music. Biography Gary Bertini was born ''Shloyme Golergant'' in Bricheva, Bessarabia, th ...

in particular, the orchestra has regularly featured the symphonies of

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

.. The current music director of the orchestra is

Kazushi Ōno (born 1960) is a Japanese conductor. He is currently music director of the Brussels Philharmonic and of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of New National Theatre Tokyo. Biography Ōno studied at the Tokyo Nation ...

, since April 2015. His most recent contract extension with the orchestra, announced in October 2021, is through March 2026. Since April 2018, Alan Gilbert has served as the orchestra's principal guest conductor.

Kazuhiro Koizumi is a Japanese conductor who has had an active international career since the 1970s. Koizumi was one among the founding conductors of the New Japan Philharmonic established in July 197He has appeared as a guest conductor throughout Europe and the ...

, principal conductor of the orchestra from 1995 to 1998, subsequently principal guest conductor from 1998 to 2008, then resident conductor from 2008 to 2014, now has the title of 'Honorary Conductor for Life', since April 2014.

was principal conductor of the orchestra from 2008 to 2014, and since April 2014 has the title of conductor laureate of the orchestra.

Conductors

Music directors, permanent conductors, and principal conductors

* Heinz Hofmann (Music Director and Permanent Conductor, 1965–1967) *

Tadashi Mori was a Japanese conducting, conductor and flautist. He performed as flautist in his young days. He studied conducting from Hideo Saito (musician), Hideo Saito, and started his career as conductor. Mori was a music director and principal conduc ...

(Music Director and Permanent Conductor, 1967–1972) * Akeo Watanabe (Music Director and Permanent Conductor, 1972–1978) *

Moshe Atzmon Moshe Atzmon (; born 30 July 1931) is an Israeli conductor. He was born Móse Grószberger in Budapest, and at the age of thirteen he emigrated with his family to Tel Aviv, Israel. He started his musical career on the horn before going to Londo ...

(Principal Conductor and Music Adviser, 1978–1983) * Hiroshi Wakasugi (Music Director and Principal Conductor, 1986–1995) *

(Principal Conductor, 1995–1998) *

(Music Director, 1998–2005) *

James DePreist James Anderson DePreist (November 21, 1936 – February 8, 2013) was an American conductor. DePreist was one of the first African-American conductors on the world stage. He was the director emeritus of conducting and orchestral studies at ...

(Permanent Conductor, 2005–2008) *

(Principal Conductor, 2008–2014) *

(Music Director, 2015–present)

Principal guest conductors

Jakub Hrůša Jakub Hrůša (born 23 July 1981 in Brno) is a Czech conductor. He is chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony. Education Hrůša is the son of the architect . There were no professional musicians in his family who were drawn mainly from technica ...

(2010–2018) * Alan Gilbert (2018–present)

Awards

* Kyoto Music Award (1991) * Japan's 50th Record Academy Award for Best Symphony Album (E.Inbal/ Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4, 2012) * Japan's 53rd Record Academy Award for Special Award (E.Inbal+TMSO/ Neuer Mahler-Zyklus 2012–2013)

Note

* The Tokyo ''Metropolitan'' Symphony Orchestra (都響, Tokyō) tends to be confused with the

Tokyo Symphony Orchestra The (TSO) is a Japanese orchestra, administratively based in Kawasaki. The orchestra offers subscription concert series at its home, the Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall and at Suntory Hall, the Concert Hall of the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, ...

(東響, Tōkyō). * The orchestra had mainly performed only classical music but came to also perform other symphonic music since around 2000, such as ''

Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a series of role-playing video games created by Japanese game designer Yuji Horii (Armor Project), character designer Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio), and composer Koi ...

'' soundtracks with

Koichi Sugiyama was a Japanese composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He was best known for composing for the ''Dragon Quest'' franchise, along with several other video games, anime, film, television shows, and pop songs. Classically trained, Sugiyama was c ...

, and soundtracks for ''

Nodame Cantabile is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tomoko Ninomiya. It was serialized by Kodansha in the manga magazine ''Kiss'' from July 2001 to October 2009. A short series, ''Nodame Cantabile: Encore Opera Chapter'', was ser ...

'' (anime and TV drama) and '' Red Cliff'' (film).

References

External links

*
Official English-language homepage of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1965 Japanese orchestras Culture in Tokyo Government of Tokyo Musical groups from Tokyo 1965 establishments in Japan