Subscription Concerts 2024-2025Program B
No. 2040 Subscription (Program B)

Juanjo Mena is originally from the Basque Country of Spain, where he still lives. The Basque Country has been known as a region of particular ethnicity and culture, but also as the homeland of Ravel (though he was from French side of the region). Partly due to such background, his repertoire was focused on composers of Spain, French and Latin America, including Ravel, however with the development of his career, he expanded his repertoire, and in 2016, he was awarded the Spanish National Music Award, thus advancing as one of the leading maestros to represent Spain. After serving as Artistic Director of Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Spain (1999–2008), he was appointed Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic of Manchester in 2011 (until 2018), the position of which helped him make his name known internationally, and solidified his reputation not only for his specialism in Spanish music, but also for his symphonic repertoire, including Schubert and Bruckner. He has been repeatedly invited to the world’s famed orchestras for guest-conducting, including the Berliner Philharmoniker.
His first collaboration with the NHK Symphony Orchestra was in 2017, then he returned in 2021, on both occasions, the programs being of Latin and French repertoire. For the coming concert, he has picked Ibert combined with Bruckner, and will exhibit his true value by conducting the expansive Bruckner Symphony No.6 as he once studied under Celibidache. As he wrapped up the work unstrainedly yet neatly in the recording, we look forward to how the NHK Symphony Orchestra, an orchestra with a long-established tradition for German and Austrian repertoire, will perform the work under his baton.

[Mitsunori Eto, music critic]

Innsbruck-born Karl-Heinz Schütz studied with Eva Amsler at the Vorarlberg State Conservatory in Austria, and then under Aurèle Nicolet, her tutor in Basel, Switzerland. Due to his intention to study in France, Schütz went under the tutelage of Philippe Bernold at the Conservatoire national supérieur musique et danse in Lyon. Thus, he expanded his musical horizons, and won the Carl Nielsen International Competition in 1998, and the International Flute Competition Kraków in 1999. After working with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker and the Wiener Symphoniker, he joined the Wiener Staatsoper Orchester in 2011, and since 2015, he has been the Principal Flutist of the Wiener Philharmoniker. He also served as soloist in the Wiener Philharmoniker’s subscription concerts, playing Boulez’s Mémoriale and Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 1. He is a member of the Ensemble Wien-Berlin and the Wiener-Ring-Ensemble.
He previously worked with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in 2015 and 2017, and on this occasion, he will play Ibert’s Flute Concerto. Because he is not only specialized in German and Austrian music, but also French music, he is expected to deliver a highly attractive performance.

[Haruo Yamada, music critic]