KD SCHMID Kazuki Yamada

Conductor

Kazuki Yamada

Biography – about the artist.

ARTISTIC and music DIRECTOR ORCHESTRE PHILHARMONIQUE DE MONTE-CARLO, 
Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor CITY OF BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, 
PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR YOMIurI NIPPON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, 
PERMANENT CONDUCTOR JAPAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA,
MUSIC DIRECTOR AND CHAIRMAN THE PHILHARMONIC CHORUS OF TOKYO, 
MUSIC DIRECTOR YOKOHAMA SINFONIETTA

Kazuki Yamada is Designate Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), a role he commences in spring 2023, building upon the deep musical bond formed with players during his time as Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra.

Alongside his commitments in Birmingham, Yamada is also Artistic and Music Director of Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. Having already worked with the two organisations in partnership, conducting collaborative performances of Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” in Monaco in 2019, Yamada’s new appointment sees a continuing link forged between Monaco and Birmingham, with the CBSO Chorus set for a return to Monaco in 2023 for a performance of Orff’s “Carmina Burana”.

Time spent under the close supervision of Seiji Ozawa served to underline the importance of what Kazuki Yamada calls his “Japanese feeling” for classical music. Born in 1979 in Kanagawa, Japan, he continues to work and perform in Japan every season with NHK Symphony Orchestra and in his position as Principal Guest Conductor with Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. Shortly after assuming his position in Birmingham, Yamada will give a series of concerts on tour around Japan with the CBSO in summer 2023. 


Yamada’s passionate and collaborative approach to conducting means he commands a busy international diary of concerts, opera and choral conducting. The current season begins with his debut at the BBC Proms with CBSO in summer 2022. He continues regular guesting commitments with Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, also returning to Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. He makes debut appearances with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique and the Minnesota Orchestra. He also returns to Opéra de Monte-Carlo for a production of Saint-Saëns’ rarely programmed “Déjanire” and Berlioz’s “La damnation de Faust”. Future guesting dates include Swedish Radio Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. 

Yamada performs with soloists such as Emanuel Ax, Leif Ove Andsnes, Seong-Jin Cho, Isabelle Faust, Martin Helmchen, Nobuko Imai, Alexander Kantorow, Evgeny Kissin, Daniel Lozakovich, Maria Joao Pires, Baiba Skride, Arabella Steinbacher, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Krystian Zimerman and Frank Peter Zimmermann.

Strongly committed to his role as an educator, Yamada appears annually as a guest artist at the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on international concert halls reaffirmed his belief that -– in his words – ‘The audience is always involved in making the music. As a conductor, I need an audience there as much as the musicians’. Yamada studied music at the Tokyo University of the Arts, where he discovered a love both for Mozart and the Russian romantic repertory. He first achieved international attention upon receiving first prize in the 51st Besançon International Competition for young conductors in 2009.  After living in Japan for most of his life, he now resides in Berlin. 

SEASON 2022/2023


Orchestra.

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Under the direction of Kazuki Yamada, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra embarks tour through Europe im March 2026.

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City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

In January 2026, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra will hold a tour through Spain (including the Canary Islands) under the direction of Kazuki Yamada.

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City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Principal Guest Conductor Kazuki Yamada on tour.

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City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on European Summer Festival Tour for the First Time under Principal Guest Conductor Kazuki Yamada.

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The next dates:

14.06.2023

Symphony Hall Birmingham

Birmingham

> more about the promoter

15.06.2023

Snape Maltings Concert Hall

Aldeburgh

> more about the promoter

23.06.2023

Kumamoto Prefectual Concert Hall

> more about the promoter

24.06.2023

Hyogo Performing Arts Center

Hyogo

> more about the promoter

25.06.2023

Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall

Yokohama

> more about the promoter

27.06.2023

Ishikawa Ongakudo Concert Hall

Ishikawa

> more about the promoter

28.06.2023

Bunkyo Civic Hall

Bunkyo

> more about the promoter

29.06.2023

Suntory Hall

Tokyo

> more about the promoter

30.06.2023

Suntory Hall

Tokyo

> more about the promoter

01.07.2023

Aichi Prefectural Art Theatre Nagoyashi

Nagoya-shi Aichi

> more about the promoter

09.07.2023

Victoria Hall

Genève

16.07.2023

Le Palais de Monaco

Monaco Ville

> more about the promoter

27.07.2023

Royal Albert Hall

London

> more about the promoter

06.08.2023

Koussevitzky Music Shed

Lenox

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01.09.2023

Suntory Hall

Tokyo

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14.09.2023

Symphony Hall Birmingham

Birmingham

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16.09.2023

Symphony Hall Birmingham

Birmingham

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04.10.2023

Symphony Hall Birmingham

Birmingham

> more about the promoter

08.10.2023

Symphony Hall Birmingham

Birmingham

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21.10.2023

Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Liederhalle Stuttgart

Stuttgart

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16.11.2023

Sala Santa Cecilia

Roma

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17.11.2023

Sala Santa Cecilia

Roma

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18.11.2023

Sala Santa Cecilia

Roma

> more about the promoter

Your contact persons:

General Management (except France, Italy and Russia):

Anna Wetherell

+44 20 7395 09-32

anna.wetherell@kdschmid.co.uk

General Management (except France, Italy and Russia):

Ellen Arkwright

+44 20 7395 09-37

ellen.arkwright@kdschmid.co.uk

Germany, Austria, Switzerland:

Susanne Büttner

+44 20 7395 09-31

susanne.buettner@kdschmid.co.uk

Elspeth Manders

Associate Artist Coordinator

+44 20 7395 09-36

elspeth.manders@kdschmid.co.uk

Listen, See & feel the music.

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Elspeth Manders

Associate Artist Coordinator

+44 20 7395 09-36

elspeth.manders@kdschmid.co.uk

Discography.

Saint-Saëns / Poulenc / Widor

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

06.2019, Pentatone, CD

> Amazon > iTunes

De Falla

05.2017, PentaTone, CD

> Amazon > iTunes

Roussel, Debussy & Poulenc

08.2016, PentaTone, CD

> Amazon > iTunes

Russian Dances

03.2016, PentaTone, CD

> Amazon > iTunes

Strauss, Liszt, Korngold, Busoni, Schreker

05.2014, PentaTone, CD

> Amazon > iTunes

News.

Kazuki Yamada and Baiba Skride returning to the Philharmonia Orchestra

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Kazuki Yamada and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

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BBC Proms programm anouncement

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Debut with the Belgian National Orchestra

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Kazuki Yamada opens the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra season

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Kazuki Yamada makes his BBC Proms Debut with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

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Summer Festivals 2022

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Washington Post praises Kazuki Yamada after his debut in Washington

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Press.

„Kazuki Yamada and the CBSO have an electric connection. The orchestra play with a unity and a precision under his baton that I have seldom heard with anyone else.“

Bachtrack, Robert Gainer, 02.02.2023

„Rachmaninov's long 2nd Symphony is a work in which the crepuscular and the turgid sometimes seem separated by only a very fine line, yet Yamada took rare control of the brooding first movement and made something special of the Adagio's wintry nocturne, complete with melting clarinet solos.“

The Telegraph, Arwa Haider, 26.07.2022

„It’s clear the CBSO players adore him and they signed off with an affectionate Chanson de nuit encore. This is going to be an interesting relationship to follow.“

Bachtrack, Mark Pullinger, 25.07.2022

„On Thursday night at the Kennedy Center, I watched one of the most charismatic conductors I’ve seen all year lead the National Symphony Orchestra in one of the most energetic performances I’ve heard all season.“

Washington Post, Michael Andor Brodeur, 17.06.2022

„Yamada is a conductor of wonderful podium presence, every expressive gesture communicating his deep immersion in the music, with the orchestra responding so positively and enthusiastically.“

Slipped Disc, Christopher Morley, 01.07.2021

„Yamada is reminiscent of Andris Nelsons: a smiling, engaging presence who seems to exude music, and who can shape massive sonorities with the wave of a finger.“

The Arts Desk, Richard Bratby, 20.02.2020