Yosuke Funabashi graduated from the Tokyo College of Music where he studied piano and completed post-graduate studies in conducting under Yasuhiko Shiozawa, Sei-ichi Mitsuishi, Jun-ichi Hirokami, and Richard Schumacher.
Funabashi
has won many prizes in international conducting competitions, such as the Nikolai Malko (1998), the Lovro von Mataci (1999), and the Hungarian Television International Conductors Competition (2002). In 2000, he conducted the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Prague Spring International Music Competition and received an honorary mention of the jury. The same year, he was selected one of the ten most promising young conductors in Asia
by Lorin Maazel.
Particularly in the areas of opera and choral music, Funabashi
has demonstrated exceptional insight and sensibility. He continues to deepen his experience and artistry in these fields through participation in many opera productions, and recent successes include appearances in major productions directed by Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Myung-Whun Chung, and Vladimir Fedoseyev. Funabashi
made his opera conducting debut in 1999 with a highly acclaimed performance of Mozart's Die Zauberflote, which press reviews likened to a top-class German opera production. His conducting of Puccini’s La Boheme and Dan’s Yuzuru, among others, has been widely praised. In 2002, Funabashi
conducted the Tokyo Philharmonic in a performance of Verdi’s Requiem which was extolled as “music of elevated emotion that was guided by the passion of his baton.”
Funabashi
has appeared as guest conductor with most of the major Japanese orchestras, including in 2002-2004 as the Assistant Conductor of the Orchestra Osaka Symphoniker. During the 2005/2006 season, Funabashi
conducted Verdi’s Requiem at Musikverein Grosser Saal in Vienna
, as well as many concerts in Japan
, including the concert at the Aichi World Expo. In the 2006/2007 season, he served as guest conductor for the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Kyushu Symphony Orchestra, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, and Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, in addition to appearing for the first time with the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra and Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra. In 2008, he won accolades for his conducting of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. Since April 2006, he has served as music advisor for the Nagaoka City Foundation for Art and Culture Promotion. An outstanding talent and one of the promising conductors of his generation, Funabashi
will continue his activities both in Japan
and abroad.
Website: http://www.y-funabashi.com
Curriculum Vitae as of April 2008
