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Appearing

Conductor / Sachio Fujioka

Saxophone / Nobuya Sugawa

Song List

© Shin Yamagishi

Sachio Fujioka（Conductor）

Born in Tokyo in 1962. He studied piano and violoncello, and was the last favorite student of renowned conductor Akeo Watanabe. He served as assistant to Sir Georg Solti in London. Fujioka graduated from the Department of Literature of Keio University. In 1990, following a conducting internship with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, he enrolled in the conducting department of the Royal Northern College of music in Manchester. He was selected as a scholarship student, and in 1992 became the first recipient of the Sir Charles Groves Conducting Fellowship, which is awarded to the most talented young conductors. Fujioka was Assistant Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic between 1992 and 1995. Following his very successful debut with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo in May 1995, he was appointed a regular guest conductor and now returns to work with the Orchestra on a number of occasions each season. Following his debut with the BBC Philharmonic in November 1993, Sachio Fujioka has appeared with the Orchestra on many occasions including his debut at the BBC Proms in London in 1994 and he has also made a number of recordings with this Orchestra for Chandos Records. Between 1995 and 2000 Sachio Fujioka was Principal Conductor of the Manchester Camerata and during the 1998/99 season he and the Orchestra undertook a highly successful tour of Japan including appearances at Suntory Hall, Tokyo. Maestro Fujioka served successively as conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2001, Sachio Fujioka was appointed Principal Conductor of the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra in Osaka. He is now in his 21st season as Principal, with which he has conducted over 40 concerts each year. The strong feeling of unity in these performances has thrilled audiences and earned high acclaim. He has made a mark in opera as well. He conducted an Opera de Oviedo (Spain) production of Britten’s Turn of the Screw in 2006 which won an award for the year’s best new production; and production of Ariadne auf Naxos in 2009. Fujioka has released 8 CDs with the BBC Philharmonic including the works of Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu on the British label Chandos. He is currently recording the complete Sibelius symphonies with the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra on ALM Records. His wide-ranging activities also include conducting the music for the NHK historical drama series “Kiyomori”. He also appears in TV program “Enter the Music” since October 2014. (BS TV TOKYO every week on Saturday from 8:30) Sachio Fujioka was the recipient of the 2002 Akeo Watanabe Foundation Music Award. April 2019, he appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra.

Nobuya Sugawa（Saxophone）

Nobuya Sugawa is an internationally acclaimed saxophonist whom Japan is very much proud of. He studied saxophone at Tokyo University of Arts (formerly named Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music) with the late Yuichi Omuro. He has won the highest prizes in the Wind Instrument Category in the 51st Music Competition of Japan and for the Saxophone category in the 1st Japan Wind and Percussion Competition. He has received the Idemitsu Music Award and the Muramatsu Award. He was featured in JT’s Musician Series, and his appearance in its TV commercials brought him overwhelming popularity. His other activities include the performance of the theme music for ‘Sakura,’ a popular daily TV drama series broadcasted on NHK from April to September 2002: and other numerous appearances on TV and radio programs. He plays about 100 concerts every year. Additionally, he has taken himself to more than 20 countries to hold recitals and teach master classes. He has made more than 30 CD albums on different Japanese and overseas labels. These albums introduce us not only his new repertoires, but also his works with masterly musicians in various genres, like Ron Carter and Martin Taylor. There are many pieces written for him and many of them have been published. Along with his albums, they have revealed new musical horizons for the classical saxophone, having a considerable influence across the world. He has performed with almost all orchestras of Japan including NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo. Outside the country, he has performed with BBC Philharmonic, Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Eastman Wind Ensemble, and Orchestra d’Harmonie de la Garde Républicaine. Since his debut, he has actively requested many remarkable composers to write new pieces for him. Many of these works, premiered by him, have become internationally popular and been added to the important classical saxophone repertoires of the 20th and 21st centuries. Some examples among many are; ‘Fuzzy Bird Sonata’ and ‘Cyber Bird Concerto’ by Takashi Yoshimatsu, ‘Saxophone Concerto "Esse in Anima” ’ by Akira Nishimura, ‘Saxophone Concerto’ by Edward Gregson, ‘Cinnamon Concerto’ by Martin Ellerby, ‘Dance of Uzume’ by Piet Swerts, ‘Concerto du Vent’ by Toshiyuki Honda, ‘La lune en paradise’ and ‘Paganini Lost’ by Jun Nagao, and ‘BIRDS-A Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Band’ by Toshio Mashima. Particularly, ‘Fuzzy Bird Sonata’ by Takashi Yoshimatsu has led him to the limelight in the international music arena. He has been since recognized as “Mr. Fuzzy Bird” as well as “Mr. Sugawa.” Hailed as a musician with an outstanding style, he has been receiving broad attention of other saxophonists across the world. He has assumed a role of the concert master of Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra for almost 22 years from 1989 through 2010. He received ‘Hamamatsu Art and Culture Special Award’ in 1996, and has been appointed as an ambassador of Hamamatsu City ‘YARAMAIKA’ in 2009. Currently along with the activities as a soloist, he performs as a member of Trouvère Quartet. He also serves as the resident conductor of Yamaha Symphonic Band, and is a visiting professor of Tokyo University of Arts. (Biography from YAMAHA USA)