(born 1960) is a Japanese conductor. He is currently music director of the

Brussels Philharmonic The Brussels Philharmonic is a Belgian radio orchestra located in Brussels. Formerly known as the Groot Symfonie-Orkest, BRT Philharmonic Orchestra, and later as the Flemish Radio Orchestra, the orchestra has been linked to the Flemish public ...

and of the

Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra The , also known as Tokyō (都響), is one of the representative symphony orchestras of Japan. The Orchestra was founded in 1965 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, to commemorate the Tokyo Olympics (1964 Summer Olympics). Currently Kazushi ...

, and artistic director of

New National Theatre Tokyo The is Japan's first and foremost national centre for the performing arts, including opera, ballet, contemporary dance and drama. It is located in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. Since 1997 more than 650 productions were staged. There are about 300 pe ...

Biography

Ōno studied at the

Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music or is the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...

, and with

Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist. Biography Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...

and

Giuseppe Patanè Giuseppe Patanè (1 January 1932 – 29 May 1989) was an Italian opera conductor. He was born in Naples, the son of the conductor Franco Patanè (1908–1968), and studied in his native city. He made his debut there in 1951. He was principal con ...

at the

Bavarian State Opera The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

, as a scholar of the Japanese Ministry of Culture. In 1987, he won First Prize in the 3rd Toscanini International Conductors' Competition. Ōno was principal conductor of the

Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra The is recognized as the oldest symphony orchestra in Japan. It was founded in 1911 and debuted at the original Matsuzakaya store in Nagoya as the . It relocated to Tokyo in 1938. As of 2005, it has 166 members. The orchestra plays frequently ...

from 1992 to 1999, and its artistic advisor from 1999 to 2001. He currently holds the title of Conductor Laureate with the orchestra. In May 2013, the

announced the appointment of Ōno as its music director, as of April 2015, with an initial contract of 5 years. In 2018, his contract was extended through March 2023. In October 2021, the orchestra further extended his contract through 2026.

Career in Europe

In Europe, Ōno was Chief Conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra from 1990 to 1996. He was General Music Director of the Baden State Opera,

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

from 1996 to 2002. In August 2002, he became music director of

La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...

(

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

), after his debut there in March 2001, conducting

Salvatore Sciarrino Salvatore Sciarrino (born 4 April 1947) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. Described as "the best-known and most performed Italian composer" of the present day, his works include ''Quaderno di strada'' (2003) and ''La porta d ...

's chamber opera '' Luci mie traditrici''. Other contemporary operas that Ōno conducted with La Monnaie included

Philippe Boesmans Philippe Boesmans (17 May 1936 – 10 April 2022) was a Belgian pianist, composer and academic teacher. He studied to be a pianist at the Royal Conservatory of Liège, and was self-taught as a composer, influenced by the Liège Group of Henri Po ...

' '' Julie'' and '' Wintermärchen'', and the world premiere of

Toshio Hosokawa is a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music. He studied in Germany but returned to Japan, finding a personal style inspired by classical Japanese music and culture. He has composed operas, the oratorio ''Voiceless Voice in Hiroshima'' ...

's ''Hanjo'' at the

Aix-en-Provence Festival The Festival d'Aix-en-Provence is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumental ...

(2004). Ōno stepped down as music director at La Monnaie at the end of the 2007–2008 season. Ōno became principal conductor of the

Opéra National de Lyon The Opéra National de Lyon, marketed as Opéra de Lyon during the last decade, is an opera company in Lyon, based and performing mostly at the Opéra Nouvel, an 1831 theater that was modernized and architecturally transformed in 1993. The inaugu ...

at the start of the 2008–2009 season, with an initial contract of 5 years. He concluded his tenure at Opéra National de Lyon at the close of the 2016–2017 season. In January 2014, the

Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra The Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and National Orchestra of Catalonia ( ca, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, OBC; ) is a symphony orchestra based in Barcelona, Spain. Since April 1999, the Orchestra has had its headquarter ...

(OBC) announced the appointment of Ōno as its next music director, effective September 2015, with an initial contract of 3 years, which has since been extended until the end of the 2021–2022 season. Ōno concluded his OBC tenure at the close of the 2021–2022 season. Ōno was appointed artistic director of the

(NNTT) from the 2018 season. His contract has since been extended until the 2025–2026 season. His first productions included the world premiere of ''Asters'' in 2019, commissioned from Japanese composer

Akira Nishimura is a Japanese composer from Osaka. Biography Nishimura studied composition and musical theory on a graduate course at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He also studied Asian traditional music, religion, aesthetics, cosmology an ...

, which was nominated for a 2020 International Opera Award. Subsequent NNTT world premieres include

Dai Fujikura Dai Fujikura ( ja, 藤倉大 ''Fujikura Dai''; born 27 April 1977) is a Japanese-born composer of contemporary classical music. Biography Dai Fujikura was born in 1977 in Osaka, Japan. He moved to London when he was 15 to study at Dover Col ...

' ''A Dream of Armageddon'' (2020) and Keiichiro Shibuya's Android opera ''Super Angels'' (2021). Other new works Ōno has commissioned include

Mark-Anthony Turnage Mark-Anthony Turnage CBE (born 10 June 1960) is a British composer of classical music. Biography Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex. He began composing at age nine and at fourteen began studying at the junior section of the Royal College of ...

's ''Hibiki'', which premiered at Suntory Hall in November 2016 before featuring at the 2017

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

and which won the 2018 Royal Philharmonic Society award for Large-Scale Composition. In 2021, Ōno first guest-conducted the

. In September 2021, the Brussels Philharmonic announced the appointment of Ōno as its next music director, effective with the 2022–2023 season.

Awards

Ōno is the recipient of the 2009

Suntory Music Award The , previously known as the , designed to promote Western music in Japan, has been given by the Suntory Music Foundation since their establishment in 1969. The award is presented annually to individuals or groups for the greatest achievement in ...

and the 2015

Asahi Prize The , established in 1929, is an award presented by the Japanese newspaper ''Asahi Shimbun'' and Asahi Shimbun Foundation to honor individuals and groups that have made outstanding accomplishments in the fields of arts and academics and have greatl ...

. He was also awarded Officier de l’ ordre des Arts et des Lettres by French cultural minister Françoise Nyssen for his contribution to Japanese society.

References

External links

Official website of Kazushi OnoMaestro Arts agency profile on Kazushi Ono

Interview on MusicalCriticism.com, October 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ono, Kazushi 21st-century conductors (music) Japanese conductors (music) Japanese male conductors (music) Living people Music directors (opera) Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon 1960 births