The New Japan Philharmonic announced today that Yutaka Sado, 60, will become its next Music Director. He will succeed Toshiyuki Kamioka, who had been in charge since 2016. Sado’s contract will run from April 2023 to March 2027. He will serve as music adviser for one year from April 2022 prior to becoming Music Director.
Sado studied with Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, the founder and honorary conductor of the New Japan Philharmonic. After he won the Besancon International Conductor Competition in France in 1989, he made an international career.
He is currently the Music Director of the Tonkünstler Orchester Niederösterreich, the Artistic Director of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center, and the Principal Conductor of the Siena Wind Orchestra.