Artistic Director of Biwako Hall Center for the Performing Arts, Music Director of Tokyo Mitaka Philharmonia (Formerly Tokyo Mozart Players) and Principal Guest Conductor of Theater Lübeck where he served as General Music Director from 2013 to 2017, Ryusuke Numajiri is one of the most sought after conductors in Japan.
In 1990, Numajiri was propelled to the forefront of the international conducting spotlight by winning the First Prize in the Besançon International Conducting Competition. This victory resulted in invitations to conduct London Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Düsseldorf Symphony, Staatskapelle Weimar, Sydney Symphony, China Philharmonic and NHK Symphony Orchestra. Other recent highlights include engagements with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Bilbao Orchestra, Orchestra Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste and Boris Godunov with Peter Konwitschny. Major highlights in Japan include Mahler Symphony No 8 with Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, a beautiful programme of Alban Berg and Mahler Symphony No 1 with Japan Philharmonic Orchestra at Suntory Hall, and Wagner’s Ring Cycle at Biwako Hall with Michael Hampe. He will make his Hong Kong début in 2019 with Hong Kong Sinfonietta.
A strong advocate of contemporary music, Ryusuke Numajiri recorded The Canticle of the Sun by Sofia Gubaidulina in 1999, featuring Mstislav Rostropovich and London Symphony Orchestra. He also directed the Japanese premières of several major contemporary works including Philip Glass’ Peace Symphony, Busoni’s Concerto for Piano and Doctor Faust, Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg and Schönberg’s Notturno. Other notable mentions include works by Messiaen, Andriessen, Gecki, Ligeti, Lutosławski, Berio, Dutilleux, Xenakis, Birtwistle, and Ichiro Nodaira. In 2006 he led the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin featuring Toru Takemitsu’s music in a concert commemorating the 10th anniversary of his death. He also recorded a great catalogue of Japanese composers’ discs with Naxos.
Since his operatic début with Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio in 1997, Ryusuke Numajiri has been invited to conduct at Cologne Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera, Theater Basel, Opera Australia and New National Theatre Tokyo. In 2014 Ryusuke Numajiri composed an opera based on the famous Japanese folktale Bamboo Princess, also known as Princess Kaguya (Taketori Monagatari), which has been performed to critical acclaim in Yokohama, Otsu and Hanoi.
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