is a Japanese

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Biography

While still in school, Sado obtained a position in the Kansai Nikikai, a Japanese school of opera, where he had the opportunity to work with the

New Japan Philharmonic The is a symphony orchestra based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was founded in 1972 with Seiji Ozawa as honorary conductor laureate. The Philharmonic's primary concert venue is the Sumida Triphony Hall. From 2003 to 2013 its music director ...

and the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, learning operatic repertoire. In 1987, he traveled to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to attend the

Tanglewood Music Festival The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Stockbridge and Lenox in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts. The festival consists of a series of concerts, including symphonic music, c ...

, where he studied with

Seiji Ozawa was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After cond ...

. Later he won the Davidoff Special Prize for a competition in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He returned to Japan as an assistant to Ozawa and made his debut with the New Japan Philharmonic 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 ...

with a Haydn symphony series. He later studied with

Charles Dutoit Charles Édouard Dutoit is a Swiss conductor. He is the principal guest conductor for the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia. In 2017, he became the 103rd recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal Award. Dutoit held previous positions ...

Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky, CBE (; 4 May 1931 – 16 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, pianist, composer, and pedagogue. Biography Gennady Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. His parents were the noted conductor and pedagog ...

, and

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

, with whom he toured the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

. Sado won first prize and became the third Japanese winner (after Seiji Ozawa in 1959 and Yoko Matsuo in 1982) at the 39th annual '' International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors'' in

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

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in 1989. In 1990, he became a regular participant in the Pacific Music Festival in

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

, Japan, along with

Christoph Eschenbach Christoph Eschenbach (; born 20 February 1940) is a German pianist and conductor. Early life Eschenbach was born on 20 February 1940 in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) as Christoph Ringmann. His parents were Margarethe (née Jaross), a ...

and

Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist, and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the S ...

. Sado also serves as artistic director and artistic advisor of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center and principal conductor of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra which he helped establish in 2005. Sado also is chief conductor of the Siena Wind Orchestra in Japan. Outside Japan, Sado was principal conductor of the

Orchestre Lamoureux The Orchestre Lamoureux () officially known as the Société des Nouveaux-Concerts and also known as the Concerts Lamoureux) is an orchestral concert society which once gave weekly concerts by its own orchestra, founded in Paris by Charles Lamoure ...

from 1993 to 2011. He recorded with the Orchestre Lamoureux for such labels as Erato. In October 1995, Sado was named the winner of the first Leonard Bernstein Jerusalem International Music Competition. In 2011, he conducted Beethoven's 9th symphony, with 10,000 Japanese people, for the victims of the 2011 Japanese earthquake. In November 2013, the

Tonkünstler Orchestra The Tonkunstler Orchestra (German: ''Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich'', ) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna and Sankt Pölten, Lower Austria. Origin of the name The orchestra's name has its origins in the ''Tonkünstler-Soziet ...

announced the appointment of Sado as its next principal conductor, effective with the 2015–2016 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. Sado is scheduled to conclude his tenure with the Tonkünstler Orchestra at the close of the 2024-2025 season.

References

External links

Official website of Yutaka Sado

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Digital Concert Hall, interview with Yutaka Sado
1961 births Living people 21st-century Japanese conductors (music) 20th-century Japanese conductors (music) Japanese male conductors (music) Kyoto City University of Arts alumni Musicians from Kyoto 21st-century Japanese male musicians 20th-century Japanese male musicians Erato Records artists Chief conductors of the Tonkünstler Orchestra {{conductor-stub