No. 2076 Subscription (Program B)

Internationally renowned conductor Tugan Sokhiev, one of the last students of legendary teacher Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, divides his time between the symphonic and operatic repertoire. He was newly appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande beginning with this season.
A former Music Director of the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, he enjoys close and privileged relationships with orchestras such as the Wiener, Berliner and Münchner Philharmoniker orchestras, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Outside Europe, he is invited to conduct the finest U.S. orchestras including the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. Passionate about his work with singers, he was Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow from 2014 to 2022. Recently, he conducted a new production of Iolanta at the Wiener Staatsoper and gave tours with the Wiener Philharmoniker (Asia), the Münchner Philharmoniker (Asia and Europe) and the Staatskapelle Dresden (Europe), conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker’s celebrated Sommernachtskonzert in the Schönbrunn Palace.
Highlights of the last season include his collaborations with the Wiener Philharmoniker for their gala concert celebrating Johann Strauss II’s 200th birthday, with the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Osterfestspiele Salzburg, his Cleveland Orchestra debut, and his conducting of a new production of Tannhäuser at the Opernhaus Zürich.
He made his NHK Symphony Orchestra debut in 2008 conducting Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. Since his first appearance at their subscription concerts in 2013, he has spent several weeks almost every year with the orchestra. This time, he programed orchestral works by Beethoven and Russian composers, coupling them with Prokofiev’s and Rachmaninov’s concertos to collaborate with soloists Mayuko Kamio and Alexandre Kantorow, both the International Tchaikovsky Competition winners.

[Kumiko Nishi]

In 2019, aged 22, Alexandre Kantorow became the first French pianist to win the Gold Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, along with the rarely awarded Grand Prix, granted only three times in the competition’s history. In 2024, he received the esteemed Gilmore Artist Award, solidifying his place as one of the world’s leading pianists. A former student of Pierre-Alain Volondat, Igor Lazko, Frank Braley, and Rena Shereshevskaya, he is in demand today at the highest level across the globe, performing in the world’s finest halls both in recital and with the most renowned orchestras and conductors.
Highlights of the last season include a tour of Japan with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Klaus Mäkelä, European tours with the Filarmonica della Scala under Riccardo Chailly and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Paavo Järvi, and a tour to the U.S. with the Philharmonia and Marin Alsop including a performance at Carnegie Hall. In July 2024, he performed Ravel’s Jeux d’eau at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games.
This is his first collaboration with the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Tugan Sokhiev, whom he has frequently co-starred with, was on the podium when the pianist made his sensational Berliner Philharmoniker debut in 2023.

[Kumiko Nishi]