Akihiro Muramoto, Principal Timpani of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, was born in Kyoto in Japan. He started his percussion lessons at the age of seven with his father, who was Principal Percussion of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra. He later entered the Osaka College of Music for further studies in percussion performance. He toured extensively in Europe, America and Asia in 1993 and 1995 with the Asian Youth Orchestra, and played in the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra with players of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Sapporo in 1996. He joined the Orchestra Osaka Symphoniker in 1997 and came to Hong Kong and joined the Hong Kong Sinfonietta in September 2003.
