Credits:

Kei Ito

Description:

＜Kei Ito (clarinet) was born in Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, and graduated from the Department of Instrumental Music, Faculty of Music, Tokyo University of the Arts in 2001. He won the first prize at the 6th Japan Clarinet Competition and was selected for the 75th Japan Music Competition. He was selected for the 75th Japan Music Competition. Performed in the Tokyo Opera City Recital Series "B to C", which was featured on NHK-FM's "Classic Club". After working with the Philharmonia of the University of the Arts and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, he has been the principal clarinetist of the NHK Symphony Orchestra since 2011. As a concerto soloist, he performed "Clarinet Concerto" by I-Sang Yun at the "Forest of Creation" of Tokyo University of the Arts in 2014, and was invited to perform "Clarinet Concerto" by P. Spark at the Chiayi International Music Festival in Taiwan in 2020. In 2021, he will perform Mozart's "Clarinet Concerto" as soloist with the NHK Symphony Orchestra at the 1938th NHK Symphony Orchestra Subscription Concert. He has been invited to give recitals at the Sendai Classical Festival since 2018.He has studied clarinet under Susumu Sengoku, Hiroyuki Hibino, Yusuke Noda, Shoji Yamamoto, Hidemi Mikai, and Yuji Murai. He has been invited as an adjunct associate professor at the Tokyo College of Music, as a lecturer at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and Kunitachi College of Music, and as an instructor at master classes in Japan and abroad, where he teaches younger students. In addition to his activities as a soloist, chamber musician, and instructor, he is also involved in outreach projects from kindergarten to high school, and continues to perform at nursing homes and other facilities. Instrument: Buffet Crampon "Festival" (B♭/A)Hiroshi Nagao received his Bachelor's degree in instrumental music from the Tokyo University of the Arts and Master's degree from the same university. While a student, he received the Ataka Prize. Studied at Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris in 1995, and has performed with major Japanese orchestras including NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, and Osaka Symphony Orchestra, as well as giving solo recitals with Maxence Larrieu ( He has also performed with many orchestral musicians in Japan and abroad, including Maxence Larrieu (flute), Jean-Yves Fourmeau (saxophone), and Pavel Bermann (violin).He has premiered many works both in Japan and abroad, appeared at music festivals such as Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto and Suntory Hall Summer Festival, and appeared in media such as NHK, etc. His CDs include "Evocation" and "Ravel & Debussy" (Live Notes), " Messiaen: Visions of Amen", "Playing Liszt & Reger" (Kojima Recordings), and the ongoing series "Pianism 1/ Bach: Goltberg Variations, Pianism 2/Debussy: Preludes, Volumes 1 & 2, Pianism 3/ Haydn: Middle Piano Sonatas, Pianism 4/ Albéniz: Iberia" (299MUSIC) as well as numerous solo releases with Michel Becquet (trombone), Walter Auer (flute), Etsuko Kano (mezzo-soprano) and others, which have received favorable reviews in various publications. She is one of the few performers who can deliver passionate and fresh music with a clear and beautiful sound and precise and elaborate technique.(2/2) Tobu Shoji Co.