Ken Takaseki studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. He won the International Herbert von Karajan Competition in 1977. He started his professional career in Berlin as an assistant to Karajan. Takaseki also had an internship with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa and took part in the Tanglewood Music Festival.
Takaseki has appeared in concerts in Japan and other countries. In 2013 and 2017, he conducted the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The conductor has taken part in such productions as Yuzuru at the New National Theatre Tokyo and Peter Grimes at the Osaka College Opera House. Takaseki has collaborated with Pierre Boulez, Mischa Maisky, Itzhak Perlman, and Martha Argerich.
Takaseki was Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, Conductor of the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Century Orchestra Osaka, Music Director for the Gunma Symphony Orchestra, and Resident Conductor for the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra.
He is currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra (since April 2014), Principal Conductor of the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra (since April 2015), Principal Conductor of the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra (since April 2018), and Music Adviser of the Shizuoka Symphony Orchestra (since April 2018).
He teaches at the Tokyo University of the Arts and helms the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Tokyo University of the Arts.
