Biography of OSAMU SASAKI
Born in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture in 1955. After graduating from Hirosaki High School, he studied at Musashino Academia Musicae. Starting in 1977 as an Austrian government scholarship student, he studied conducting at the Mozarteum University Salzburg under Herbert von Karajan, Sergiu Celibidache, and Gerhard Wimberger. In 1979, he was a prize winner (finalist) at the Karajan International Conductors Competition in Berlin. He graduated at the top of his class from the Conducting Department of the Mozarteum University in 1981.
From 1981 to 1984, he served as a lecturer in the Conducting Department of the Mozarteum University and as the permanent conductor of the university orchestra. In 1982, he became the first East Asian conductor to lead the university orchestra at the Salzburg International Mozart Week, receiving high acclaim from Opera & Konzert magazine as "a truly natural, flexible, and fresh Mozart conductor." In 1983, he was awarded the Bernhard Paumgartner Medal by the International Mozarteum Foundation and the Encouragement Award by the International Salzburg Association. In 1984, he conducted the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (now the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin) for the RIAS Young Artists Concert at the Berliner Philharmonie.
Upon returning to Japan, he conducted professional and amateur orchestras and choruses nationwide. In 1996, he conducted the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra for Fuji TV's Atlanta Olympics Highlights, drawing widespread attention. From 1999 to 2009, he served as the music planner and IT planner for the Osaka Symphony Orchestra. In broadcasting, he worked as a personality and music supervisor for NHK's FM Symphony Concert, Osaka FM 802's From Suntory Hall, and TV Tokyo's Tamori's Music Is the World!.
In the IT era, Osamu Sasaki expanded his scope of activity even further. In 2000, he developed the business model for "Luna" (now Luna Luna), the world's first mobile health management service, co-founding it with MTI Ltd. and remaining involved in its planning and development until 2011.
Since 2013, he has served as the permanent conductor of the Nihonbashi Opera. To date, he has conducted operas such as Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung, Der fliegende Holländer, Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde, Der Freischütz, Così fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte, Le nozze di Figaro, Iris, La Traviata, Aida, Il Trovatore, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, Un ballo in maschera, Tosca, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, and Hänsel und Gretel. Performance reviews in Ongaku Gendai magazine have praised him for "presenting a Wagner image with a fresh sense" and "maintaining high tension with dramatic conducting."
In recent years, he has focused on discovering, restoring, and editing scores of historically significant operas that had been forgotten or overlooked. He conducted a series of highly acclaimed Japan and Asia premieres, including Messager's Madame Chrysanthème, Verdi's Gustavo III, Monleone's Cavalleria Rusticana, Beethoven's Leonore, and Weber & Mahler's Die drei Pintos.
Furthermore, as an arranger and editor, he has contributed numerous opera and choral arrangements as well as critical edition vocal scores to IMSLP (International Music Score Library Project). In October 2020, when the Staatsoper Hannover in Germany was unable to stage large-scale orchestral performances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sasaki's chamber orchestra arrangement of Tristan und Isolde—originally created for the Nihonbashi Opera in 2013—was performed four times. The Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung praised it, noting it made one feel as though "this was the original work all along."
Osamu Sasaki's achievements have been widely covered by media outlets including the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Sankei Shimbun, Mostly Classic, Yomiuri Shimbun, and Ongaku no Tomo. Expanding his accomplishments into web production, video, recording, and AI patents, he also actively works as a music producer and YouTuber.
He currently resides in Naka Ward, Yokohama, and serves as the Representative Director of Maestro Co., Ltd., Permanent Conductor of the Nihonbashi Opera, and Director of the Nihonbashi Opera Research Institute.
From 1981 to 1984, he served as a lecturer in the Conducting Department of the Mozarteum University and as the permanent conductor of the university orchestra. In 1982, he became the first East Asian conductor to lead the university orchestra at the Salzburg International Mozart Week, receiving high acclaim from Opera & Konzert magazine as "a truly natural, flexible, and fresh Mozart conductor." In 1983, he was awarded the Bernhard Paumgartner Medal by the International Mozarteum Foundation and the Encouragement Award by the International Salzburg Association. In 1984, he conducted the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (now the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin) for the RIAS Young Artists Concert at the Berliner Philharmonie.
Upon returning to Japan, he conducted professional and amateur orchestras and choruses nationwide. In 1996, he conducted the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra for Fuji TV's Atlanta Olympics Highlights, drawing widespread attention. From 1999 to 2009, he served as the music planner and IT planner for the Osaka Symphony Orchestra. In broadcasting, he worked as a personality and music supervisor for NHK's FM Symphony Concert, Osaka FM 802's From Suntory Hall, and TV Tokyo's Tamori's Music Is the World!.
In the IT era, Osamu Sasaki expanded his scope of activity even further. In 2000, he developed the business model for "Luna" (now Luna Luna), the world's first mobile health management service, co-founding it with MTI Ltd. and remaining involved in its planning and development until 2011.
Since 2013, he has served as the permanent conductor of the Nihonbashi Opera. To date, he has conducted operas such as Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung, Der fliegende Holländer, Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde, Der Freischütz, Così fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte, Le nozze di Figaro, Iris, La Traviata, Aida, Il Trovatore, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, Un ballo in maschera, Tosca, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, and Hänsel und Gretel. Performance reviews in Ongaku Gendai magazine have praised him for "presenting a Wagner image with a fresh sense" and "maintaining high tension with dramatic conducting."
In recent years, he has focused on discovering, restoring, and editing scores of historically significant operas that had been forgotten or overlooked. He conducted a series of highly acclaimed Japan and Asia premieres, including Messager's Madame Chrysanthème, Verdi's Gustavo III, Monleone's Cavalleria Rusticana, Beethoven's Leonore, and Weber & Mahler's Die drei Pintos.
Furthermore, as an arranger and editor, he has contributed numerous opera and choral arrangements as well as critical edition vocal scores to IMSLP (International Music Score Library Project). In October 2020, when the Staatsoper Hannover in Germany was unable to stage large-scale orchestral performances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sasaki's chamber orchestra arrangement of Tristan und Isolde—originally created for the Nihonbashi Opera in 2013—was performed four times. The Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung praised it, noting it made one feel as though "this was the original work all along."
Osamu Sasaki's achievements have been widely covered by media outlets including the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Sankei Shimbun, Mostly Classic, Yomiuri Shimbun, and Ongaku no Tomo. Expanding his accomplishments into web production, video, recording, and AI patents, he also actively works as a music producer and YouTuber.
He currently resides in Naka Ward, Yokohama, and serves as the Representative Director of Maestro Co., Ltd., Permanent Conductor of the Nihonbashi Opera, and Director of the Nihonbashi Opera Research Institute.