– Permanent Conductor: NHK Symphony Orchestra – Principal Guest Conductor: Sapporo Symphony Orchestra – Conductor Laureate: Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra – Music Director: Hiroshima Wind Orchestra
Born in Kagoshima in 1969, Tatsuya Shimono studied music at the Kagoshima University Faculty of Education and conducting at the Music School for Conducting, attached to the Toho Gakuen School of Music. In 1996 he received a diploma in orchestral conducting from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, and in 1997 became the first Conducting Fellow of the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, working closely with the late Takashi Asahina and other distinguished maestros. Selected as a recipient of the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Overseas Study Programme for Artists, he continued his training at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna until 2001.
His career gained international prominence after winning First Prize at the Tokyo International Music Competition for Conducting in 2000, followed by receiving the Hideo Saito Award in the same year, and was further propelled when he was awarded the Grand Prix at the Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors in 2001. Since then, he has developed an extensive international career, appearing regularly with major Japanese orchestras including the NHK Symphony Orchestra, while guest conducting abroad with orchestras such as the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre régional Cannes-Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Czech Philharmonic, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, Symphony Silicon Valley, Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra, OBC, and Sinfonia Varsovia.
He has held numerous key positions: Resident Conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra (2006–2013), Principal Guest Conductor of the same orchestra (2013–2017), Guest Conductor (2014–2017) and Principal Guest Conductor (2017–2020) of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, and General Music Director of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra (2017–2024).
Since 2011 he has served as Music Director of the Hiroshima Wind Orchestra, earning acclaim for pioneering artistic work in the wind ensemble field. On the 5th of October 2023, the orchestra’s anniversary, he assumed the post of Permanent Conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. In April 2024 he became Principal Guest Conductor of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Laureate of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra.
He is a frequent guest at major festivals including the Kirishima International Music Festival Kagoshima and the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival, and is active in opera with notable productions at New National Theatre Tokyo, Nissay Theatre, and Nikikai Opera. His numerous awards include the Idemitsu Music Award, Watanabe Akeo Music Foundation Award, Fresh Artist Prize of the Nippon Steel Music Awards, Saito Hideo Memorial Fund Award, the Arima Prize, and the Hiroshima Citizens’ Award.
Shimono is Music Advisor to the taiko, a traditional Japanese drum performing arts ensemble “Kodo”. He is also a guest professor at Tokyo University of the Arts and at Tokyo College of Music’s Wind Academy, contributing actively to the training of the next generation.
