Tugan Sokhiev Appointed Music Director of the NHK Symphony Orchestra from the 2028/29 Season

What's newOct 30, 2026

The NHK Symphony Orchestra and its Chairman Mr. Takuya Nemoto, have the great pleasure of announcing that Tugan Sokhiev, with whom the orchestra has enjoyed a close collaboration over many years, will take up the post of Music Director from September 2028 at the start of the 28/29 season.

Mo. Sokhiev first appeared with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in October 2008, delivering a striking performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, among other works, and made his subscription concert debut with the NHKSO five years later. Since then, he has continued to collaborate with the orchestra in 2016 (January and October), 2017, 2019 (January and October), 2023, 2024, 2025 and January 2026, developing a close artistic relationship with the orchestra. His compelling performances of a broad range of repertoire have made a powerful impression not only on audiences but also on the members of the orchestra.
The musical trust and rapport they have developed through their many performances together have now led to the appointment of Tugan Sokhiev as the orchestra’s third Music Director.

'When I first worked with the musicians of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in 2008, I knew immediately that I was in the presence of an orchestra with a strong identity and sense of history. I didn’t know, of course, at that time where my relationship with the orchestra would lead, but through our many collaborations over the years, the versatility of this orchestra in different repertoire and the quality of its musicians, who are of the highest order, never fails to impress me. I feel privileged that my relationship with the orchestra has developed very organically, so that whenever I arrive in Tokyo, I have a sense of coming to a place where I can really concentrate and focus on making music with these wonderful musicians in the best conditions possible.
It is also an enormous pleasure to have the opportunity to spend time in Japan and meet wonderful audiences. That we are able to bring people in Japan together through music is extremely precious to me.’

Tugan Sokhiev

Tugan Sokhiev enjoys a distinguished international career with orchestras and opera houses around the world. He conducts the world’s leading orchestras, notably the Wiener Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Sächsischen Staatskapelle Dresden, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Münchner Philharmoniker, Philadelphia Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as at opera houses including the Wiener Staatsoper and Opéra national de Paris. He has previously served as Music Director of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre, and Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.
In the 2026/27 season, Mo. Sokhiev began his tenure as Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and led the Wiener Philharmoniker Orchestra’s tours of Europe and Asia. In January 2027, he will conduct the Wiener Philharmoniker’s iconic New Year’s Concert from the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein.

As the NHK Symphony Orchestra celebrates its centenary in 2026 and embarks on its next hundred years, we invite you to look forward to a new era shaped by the orchestra and Tugan Sokhiev together.

Biography

TUGAN SOKHIEV

Internationally renowned conductor Tugan Sokhiev enjoys close relationships with the world's most prestigious orchestras. In recent seasons, Mo. Sokhiev has been invited to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on several tours in Europe and Asia, and had the honour of conducting the orchestra’s celebrated Sommernachtskonzert at the Schönbrunn Palace as well as the gala concert on the occasion of the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II. This privileged relationship continues with concerts at the Salzburg Festival in August 2026, a tour of major European cities in September 2026 and the world-famous New Year’s Concert at the Vienna Musikverein.

Forth-coming highlights of the 2026/2027 season include return invitations to conduct the Berlin and Munich Philharmonic orchestras, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Bavarian Radio Symphony and the Staatskapelle Dresden, whose highly popular Silvesterkonzert he conducted in 2023. Outside Germany, he will return to the Orchestre de la Suisse romande, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia as well as the Philharmonia Orchestra and Orchestre nationale du Capitole de Toulouse. In November 2026, Tugan Sokhiev will conduct three weeks of concerts for the 100th Anniversary of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Japan.

In June 2026, Tugan Sokhiev was named Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. As Music Director of the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse from 2008 to 2022, he headed numerous successful concert seasons, including several world premieres and a significant number of tours abroad, propelling the orchestra to international prominence. Passionate about the lyric repertoire, from 2014 to 2022 he was Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and in recent seasons conducted a highly acclaimed new production of Iolanta at the Vienna Staatsoper, and Tannhäuser at the Zurich Opera.

Outside Europe, Tugan Sokhiev appears at the head of the finest U.S. orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras and spends several weeks each season with the NHK Symphony Orchestra.

Tugan Sokhiev’s award winning discography includes many recordings with the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin of which he was Principal Conductor from 2012 to 2016 and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, which also features many of his concerts on its prestigious Digital Concert Hall. His most recent CD is a live recording of Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 7 ‘Leningrad’ with the NHK Symphony Orchestra.

One of the last students of legendary teacher Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Tugan Sokhiev is eager to share his expertise with future generations of musicians, leading him in 2016 to found the International Conducting Academy in Toulouse. He also works with the young musicians of the Angelika Prokopp Sommerakademie der Wiener Philharmoniker and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra Academy and alongside his concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra at the Salzburg Easter Festival, conducted the orchestra’s amateur BEPHIL Orchestra.

Mo. Sokhiev has a close collaboration with the musicians of the Philharmonic Brass, the elite brass ensemble made up of members of the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras & Friends, and conducted the group’s first CD as well as many highly acclaimed concerts. He is honoured to be a Patron of the Philharmonic Brass Education Program.