Permanent Conductor
Yoichiro Omachi

International conductor Yoichiro Omachi was appointed Permanent Conductor of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1999, an orchestra with whom he had been Chief Conductor beginning in 1961. He is a founder of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and was the Resident Conductor of the City Opera House in Dortmund, where he conducted numerous operas, operettas, musicals, ballets, and concerts. Maestro Omachi has guest conducted major orchestras throughout the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestras, the Dresden Philharmonic, the NDR Hamburg and Belgian Radio Symphonies, the Vienna Symphony and Tonku"nstler Orchestras, the Cleveland Orchestra, and numerous others in South America and Asia.

Maestro Omachi received his early training at the Tokyo National University and the Vienna Academy of Music, where he studied under Hans Swarowsky. A year after graduating, he accompanied the Berlin Philharmonic on its first tour to Japan as assistant to Herbert von Karajan. In 1958, he made his debut at the Berlin Festival, and the next year lead the Berlin Philharmonic as the youngest conductor in the orchestra's history.

In 1980, he became the first Japanese to conduct Madame Butterfly at the Vienna State Opera, which led to an exclusive contract with that opera house from 1982-84. He also has conducted operas at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, the Mu"nster City Opera House, the National Theatre of Mannheim, and the Smetana Opera House in Prague, as well as many ballets.

In 1992, the Federal Republic of Germany awarded Maestro Omachi the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit in recognition of his contribution to the promotion of cultural exchanges between Japan and Germany. He has also received high honors from the city of Vienna and from Austria for his role in promoting Viennese music.

(Curriculum Vitae as of March 2010)