The Swiss Romande Orchestra & Yamada Kazuki
Biography The Swiss Romande Orchestra & Yamada Kazuki
Kazuki Yamada
is Principal Guest Conductor of Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, an appointment which followed his sensational debut with the orchestra in June 2010, one of his first appearances in Europe. In 2009, he was the winner of the 51st Besancon International Competition for young conductors, receiving the Audience Award as well as the Grand Prize. Now rapidly establishing a name for himself on the international scene, Yamada is appearing with such orchestras as Orchestre de Paris, Philharmonia Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony and Gothenburg Symphony.
In Japan, he holds the positions of Principal Conductor of Japan Philharmonic, Music Partner with Sendai Philharmonic and Ensemble Orchestral Kanzawa and Music Director of Yokohama Sinfonietta, an ensemble he founded whilst still a student. Strongly supported by Seiji Ozawa, in August 2012 he conducted Xenakis’ opera ‘Oresteia’ with Tokyo Sinfonietta, as well as a televised semi-staged production of Honegger’s ‘Jeanne d´Arc au bûcher’, with Saito-Kinen Orchestra.
Having made several impressive debuts over the last two seasons, Yamada returns in the 13/14 season to such orchestras as Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique du Capitole de Toulouse and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. Notable debuts include Orquesta Sinfonica y Coro de RTVE, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and his Vienna debut with Tonkünstler-Orchester at the Musikverein. Yamada will conclude the season with an extensive tour to Japan and the Far East, with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
Soloists with whom he is working include Emmanuel Ax, Boris Berezovsky, Gautier Capuçon, Leon Fleischer, Håkan Hardenberger, Nobuko Imai, Daishin Kashimoto, Daniel Müller-Schott, Xavier de Maistre, Steven Osborne, Vadim Repin, Fazil Say, Baiba Skride, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Daniil Trifonov.
Over 2013-2015, Kazuki Yamada and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande will release a series of 3 CDs inspired by dance music, on the Pentatone label. Furthermore, a disc of works by Glazunov, Kalinnikov and Khatchaturian with Czech Philharmonic is due for release with Octavia Records during the 13/14 season. Passionate about choral repertoire, Yamada is Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus’s Residential Conductor and the group have released four CDs (on Fontec).
Now resident in Berlin, Yamada was born in Kanagawa, Japan, in 1979. He was awarded the Ataka-Prize in 2001 when he graduated from the conducting course at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music. He also studied under Gerhard Markson at the Mozarteum Salzburg in 2002. In 2011 he received the Idemitsu Music Prize for young artists in Japan.
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) was founded in 1918 by Ernest Ansermet, who remained principal conductor until 1967. The orchestra employs 112 permanent musicians and performs subscription concert series in Geneva and Lausanne, the symphony concerts of the City of Geneva and the annual United Nations concert, while playing for opera performances at the Grand Théâtre of Geneva. Marek Janowski has been the orchestra’s Artistic and Music Director since 1 September 2005.
The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande achieved world renown under its founding conductor and succeeding music directors: Paul Kletzki (1967-1970), Wolfgang Sawallisch (1970-1980), Horst Stein (1980-1985), Armin Jordan (1985-1997), Fabio Luisi (1997-2002) and Pinchas Steinberg (2002-2005). It continues to make an active contribution to music history by discovering or supporting leading contemporary composers of works first performed in Geneva. They include Benjamin Britten, Claude Debussy, Peter Eötvös, Heinz Holliger, Arthur Honegger, Michael Jarrell, Frank Martin, Darius Milhaud and Igor Stravinsky.
Since 2000, the OSR has given the world premières of around two dozen works in cooperation with Radio Suisse Romande. The orchestra also supports new music in Switzerland by regularly commissioning works from such composers as William Blank and Michael Jarrell.
Music performed by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande was broadcast on radio and shortwave early on in close cooperation with Radio-Télévision Suisse Romande and was thus heard by millions of listeners throughout the world. Thanks to its partnership with Decca, which gave rise to several legendary recordings, the orchestra’s renown continued to grow. The OSR has also made recordings for Æon, Cascavelle, Denon, EMI, Erato, Harmonia Mundi, PentaTone and Philips, many of which have been awarded major prizes. For PentaTone, it is recording Bruckner’s complete symphonies, a project which will be completed in 2012.
The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande has undertaken international tours and performed in prestigious concert halls in Europe (Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Vienna, Salzburg, Madrid, Barcelona, Brussels, Amsterdam, Budapest, Istanbul, London, Paris, Rome, Milan, etc.), in Asia (Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing), as well as in major cities in the Americas (Boston, New York, San Francisco, Washington, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, etc.). During the 2011-2012 season, the OSR will perform in Vienna and Cologne, and for the first time in Moscow and St Petersburg.
A frequent guest of festivals, the orchestra has appeared since 2000 at the Budapest Spring Festival, Chorégies d’Orange, Festival de Música de Canarias, Lucerne Easter Festival, Radio France and Montpellier Festival, Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, Robeco Zomerconcerten, Septembre Musical in Montreux and the Bucharest Festival. Starting with the 2012-2013 season, Neeme Järvi will become the OSR’s Artistic and Music Director, with Kazuki Yamada as the orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor.
The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande is supported by the Canton and the City of Geneva, Radio-Télévision Suisse Romande, friends’ associations as well as by several sponsors and donors. For the concerts performed in Lausanne, the orchestra also benefits from the support of the Canton of Vaud.
