Skip to the main content

About the NHKSO
  1. Home
  2. About NHKSO
  3. The Conductors

The Conductors

Chief Conductor of
NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo
(2022.9-)
Fabio Luisi

Image of Fabio Luisi

Message from Fabio Luisi

I am thrilled and excited to start my first season as Chief Conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, an Orchestra that for many years has been my most beloved recurring appointments in my activity. Having been chosen as the new Chief Conductor is a source of great happiness and pride for me. The great tradition of this Orchestra should again be brought into focus: exploring and deepening this tradition and enriching it with the dynamic and energy of today, will be the goal of my tenure as Chief Conductor. Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, some Richard Strauss and, of course, sneaking in of unusual repertoire, like the now neglected Symphony by César Franck, are the beginnings of a musical expedition which will explore the repertoire that has made the NHK Symphony Orchestra one of the Orchestras favored by so many famous conductors of the past - and of the present. I won't neglect modern and contemporary music either: tradition is not the worship of ashes but the preservation of fire. This fire will accompany me and my musicians in our journey through the beauty of music.

Chief Conductor NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo
Fabio Luisi

Music Director EmeritusCharles Dutoit(2003-)

Honorary Conductor LaureateHerbert Blomstedt(2016-)

Conductor LaureateVladimir Ashkenazy (2007-)

Honorary ConductorPaavo Järvi(2022.9-)

Permanent ConductorTadaaki Otaka(2010-)

CONDUCTOR

CONDUCTOR PERIOD
Hidemaro Konoe 1926.1-1935.2
Josef König 1927.4-1929.4
Nicolai Schiferblatt 1929.7-1936.7
Joseph Rosenstock Chief 1936.8-1946.9
Principal 1956.3-1957.3
Honorary 1951.8-1985.10
Hisatada Otaka Chief 1942.4-1951.2
Kazuo Yamada Chief 1942.4-1951.7
Shin'ichi Takata Chief 1944.4-1951.5
Kurt Wöss Principal 1951.9-1954.8
Niklaus Aeschbacher Principal 1954.8-1956.3
Wilhelm Loibner Principal 1957.3-1959.2
Wilhelm Schüchter Principal 1959.2-1962.3
Alexander Rumpf Principal 1964.8-1965.7
Joseph Keilberth Honorary 1967.1-1968.7
Lovro von Matačić Honorary 1967.1-1985.1
Wolfgang Sawallisch Honorary 1967.1-1994.10
Honorary Laureate 1994.11-2013.2
Hiroyuki Iwaki Permanent 1969.2-2006.6
Otmar Suitner Honorary 1973.1-2010.1
Horst Stein Honorary 1975.3-2008.7
Yuzo Toyama Permanent 1979.2-2023.7
Tadashi Mori Permanent 1979.2-1987.5
Herbert Blomstedt Honorary 1986.1-2016.12
Honorary Laureate 2016.12-
Hiroshi Wakasugi Permanent 1995.4-2009.7
Charles Dutoit Principal 1996.9-1998.8
Music Director 1998.9-2003.8
Music Director Emeritus 2003.9-
Vladimir Ashkenazy Music Director 2004.9-2007.8
Laureate 2007.9-
André Previn Principal Guest 2009.9-2012.8
Honorary Guest 2012.9-2019.2
Tadaaki Otaka Permanent 2010.1-
Paavo Järvi Chief 2015.9-2022.8
Honorary 2022.9-
Fabio Luisi Chief 2022.9-
Close
Close