Around the Music Festival

Kazuyoshi Akiyama, a leading figure in the world of Japanese conductors, passed away on the 26th due to pneumonia. He was 84 years old. He served as music director of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra for 36 years, and conducted the first performances in Japan of numerous major works, including modern and contemporary operas.

Born in Tokyo, he studied at Toho Gakuen School of Music, where he studied under Hideo Saito, Seiji Ozawa and others, and was the inheritor of the “Saito Method” of conducting. In 1984, he and Ozawa held the “Hideo Saito Memorial Concert” in memory of their teacher. This concert later led to the establishment of the Saito Kinen Orchestra.

He made his debut in 1964 conducting the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. He served as the orchestra’s music director from 1968, and was its conductor laureate from 2004. He conducted the Japanese premieres of works such as Schoenberg’s “Moses und Aron” in 1994, Lachenmann’s “The Little Matchgirl” in 2000, and John Adams’s “El Nino” in 2003.

During this time, he also held the positions of Principal Conductor of the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra（1986-1994）, Music Advisor and Principal Conductor of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra（1988-1998）, Principal Conductor, Music Advisor, Music Director and Permanent Conductor of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra（1998-2017）, he was Music Advisor and Principal Conductor of the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra（2004-2013）.

He is also currently serving as Artistic Advisor to the Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra（2003-）, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Chubu Philharmonic Orchestra（2010-）, Music Advisor to the Century Orchestra Japan（2020-）, and Music Advisor to the Okayama Philharmonic Orchestra（2022-）.

He also served as music director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra（1972-1985） in Canada, the American Symphony Orchestra（1973-1978） and the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra（1985-1993） in the United States. In addition to the five major orchestras in the United States, he has also appeared as a guest conductor with many other well-known orchestras.

From 1969, he was appointed as a visiting professor at the Faculty of Music at Senzoku Gakuen University （now Senzoku Gakuen College of Music）, and later served as a full-time professor and director of the affiliated conducting research institute（1989-）, and as a special professor and artistic director（2011-）, devoting himself to the guidance of younger musicians.

Since 2012, he has been the fifth president of the Japan Conductors Association. Last year, in 2024, he celebrated the 60th anniversary of his conducting debut, and conducted the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra at a New Year’s Eve concert. The following day, he fell at home and suffered a serious injury to his cervical spinal cord, and was hospitalized. On the 23rd of this month, he announced his retirement from conducting.

PHOTO：Tokyo Symphony Orchestra