Kazushi Ono takes top job in Tokyo

Japanese conductor Kazushi Ono has been named the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra’s next music director, beginning in April 2015 and coinciding with the orchestra foundation’s 50th anniversary.

The appointment will make TMSO the only major orchestra in the country to have a Japanese music director.

Ono made his professional debut with the Tokyo orchestra in 1984 and has gone on to hold notable positions across Europe, including La Monnaie in Brussels.

He is is currently principal conductor of Opéra National de Lyon, conductor laureate of Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini.

Ono marked his latest appointment by conducting TMSO in a performance of Britten’s War Requiem on 18 June. Soloists appearing with the orchestra included Chinese soprano Shu-Ying Li, Korean tenor Oliver Kook and Japanese baritone Akiya Fukushima.

Ono is represented by London-based firm Maestro Arts.