Shizuo Z Kuwahara (Japan - USA) has been appointed the principal guest conductor of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre in the new season. The maestro has performed several times in Vladivostok, receiving rave reviews from colleagues and the public. Now the conductor will collaborate with the theatre’s orchestra on a regular basis.
In October, Giuseppe Verdi’s operas Macbeth (October 16) and La traviata (October 19) will be performed twice under the baton of Shizuo Z Kuwahara. On October 25, the maestro will present a symphony program with the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage.
Born in Tokyo, he studied conducting at Yale University and the Eastman School of Music. Shizuo Z Kuwahara's conducting career ascended rapidly after winning the Georg Solti International Competition, leading to conducting invitations with symphony orchestras. The musician is also a winner of the Malko International Conducting Competition, the Tokyo International Conducting Competition, the Prokofiev International Conducting Competition in St Petersburg, and the Fitelberg International Conducting Competition in Katowice (Poland).
Shizuo Z Kuwahara has led performances throughout North & South America, Europe, and Asia, including performances with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the German Radio Symphony Orchestra and many other orchestras.
In 2006, he worked as an assistant conductor with Valery Gergiev in Sapporo (Japan) at the International Music Festival of the Asia-Pacific Region, after which his collaboration with the Mariinsky Theatre began. In January 2018, the conductor made his debut on the Primorsky Stage, and in November the first performance with the Mariinsky Orchestra took place in the concert hall in St Petersburg.
