Asia Orchestra Week 2025

On January 17, 1995, the Hanshin and Awaji region, in which the city of Kobe (pop. 1.5 million) is located, was hit by a great earthquake. The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake claimed the lives of over 6,400 people and caused serious economic damage estimated at 9,926.8 billion yen. But even while experiencing difficulty accessing just the bare necessities, residents in the stricken region renewed their awareness of the special role that cultural and artistic events had played in their lives.
During the decade following the great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995, the courage, persistence, and compassion of Hyogo’s local residents brought about a miraculous renewal of the devastated region. Embodying the hope for a bright future for the community, the Hyogo Performing Arts Center (HPAC) opened in 2005 as a symbol of the spiritual and cultural rebirth of the region. HPAC has now established itself as Japan’s leading cultural institution attracting both domestic and internationally renowned performing art groups to its stages. In August 2019, 14 years since the inauguration, it has proudly welcomed its 7 millionth audience.

The Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra (HPAC Orchestra) has been established as a resident orchestra exclusively affiliated with Hyogo Performing Arts Center under artistic direction of Yutaka Sado. During a three-year term, 48 international core members under the age of 35 engage in a variety of performance opportunities including full orchestra and chamber orchestra concerts, a fully-staged opera, and chamber ensemble performances of standard and modern repertoire. They are joined in these performances by leading conductors, guest players and coaches from around the world. The HPAC program offers professional development for Core Members through master-classes and private lessons with visiting artists.

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Daichi Deguchi is the 1st-prize winner of the Khachaturian International Competition 2021(Conducting) and was awarded the 2nd prize (no 1st prize was given) at the Kussewitzky International Conducting Competition, also winning the Orchestra Special Prize.
Currently Deguchi is serving as Assistant Conductor of Orchestre Philharmonique royal de Liège (2024/25 season)
Born in Osaka, Japan, Deguchi learned piano and horn since childhood. After graduating from the faculty of law at the Kwansei Gakuin University, He studied conducting at the Tokyo College of Music and at die Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin graduated in 2023. Deguchi has studied under Junichi Hirokami, Tatsuya Shimono, Christian Ehwald, Hans-Dieter Baum and others.
Deguchi works with numerous orchestras in Europe, such as Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Danube Symphony Orchestra, George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphoniker Hamburg, Orchestra Magna Grecia, State Academic Orchestra of the Republic Kazakhstan, and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra among others.
In Japan, Deguchi made his professional orchestra debut at subscription concert of Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in July,2022 that led him continuous debut to Japanese orchestras such as City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra,Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra,Japan Century Symphony Orchestra,Osaka Philharnony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra among others.
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Celebrated and gifted, Koyama is one of Japan's leading pianists. Since winning awards at both the International Tchaikovsky Competition and the International Chopin Piano Competition at the start of her career, she has consistently remained at the forefront of her instrument, ceaselessly performing concertos, solo recitals, and chamber music.
The monumental project she began in 2006 to give 24 recitals over the span of 12 years, one each in fall and spring, will conclude in fall of 2017. It was held in six cities: Tokyo (Bunkamura Orchard Hall), Osaka, Sapporo, Sendai, Nagoya, and Fukuoka.
She has appeared not only with the major Japanese orchestras, but also with the Moscow Radio Orchestra (now the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra), Berlin Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, Warsaw Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, as well as with many internationally renowned conductors including Fedoseyev, Temirkanov, Dutoit, Marriner, and Ozawa. She has served on the juries of competitions including the International Chopin Piano Competition--in 2010, the year marking the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth--the International Tchaikovsky Competition, the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition, and the ARD International Music Competition.
Following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, she has gone to perform at schools and public facilities in areas affected by the disaster, and in Sendai in 2015 she started a project of which she is the executive producer, entitled, "Bolero: Plaza of Children's Dreams."
She has an exclusive CD contract with Sony Music Japan International.
Her 30th and most recent recording for the label, her first Bach album, of the Goldberg Variations, received a special commendation from the magazine "Record Geijutsu."
Koyama has also published a book of her own essays, published by KADOKAWA.
She has been awarded the 2005 Agency for Cultural Affairs National Arts Festival Grand Prize for Music, the 2013 TonenGeneral Music Award in Western Classical Music, a 2013 Japan Record Academy Award for Instrumental Music (for her album, "Chaconne"), the 2015 NHK Symphony Orchestra Arima Prize, and the 2015 Agency for Cultural Affairs National Arts Festival Excellence Award for Music, in addition to a Music Award at the 28th Music Pen Club Award for Solo Performance of Classical Music in 2015, and an Arts Award from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2016.
Koyama completed both her undergraduate and graduate studies at the Tokyo University of the Arts(formerly the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music). She studied under Michiko Yoshida and Hiroshi Tamura.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is regarded as one of the leading orchestras in Asia. Presenting more than 150 concerts over a 44-week season, the HK Phil attracts more than 200,000 music lovers annually. The HK Phil won the prestigious UK classical music magazine Gramophone’s 2019 Orchestra of the Year Award – the first orchestra in Asia to receive this accolade.
Tarmo Peltokoski will become the HK Phil’s Music Director beginning in the 2026/27 season, after serving as Music Director Designate in 2025/26. Currently, Long Yu serves as Principal Guest Conductor, Lio Kuokman is Resident Conductor, and Daniele Gatti is Artistic Partner.
The HK Phil has flourished in the last two decades under Jaap van Zweden (Music Director, 2012–2024) and Edo de Waart (Artistic Director and Chief Conductor, 2004–2012). The orchestra successfully completed a four-year journey through Wagner’s Ring Cycle, performing and recording one opera from the cycle annually from 2015 to 2018. The concert performances were well received, and the live Naxos recordings were praised by critics, and garnered the Gramophone Orchestra of the Year Award 2019. Other recent recording projects include Mahler’s Symphony no. 10, Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 10, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 6 and Piano Concerto no. 1.
The HK Phil has toured extensively across Mainland China. The orchestra undertook a major tour in 2017 to Seoul, Osaka, Singapore, Melbourne and Sydney in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The HK Phil celebrated its 50th anniversary in the 2023/24 season, touring Europe, Asia, and Mainland China, performing in 22 cities across ten countries.
Conductors and soloists who have recently performed with the orchestra include Anja Bihlmaier, Stéphane Denève, Christoph Eschenbach, Paavo Järvi, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Vasily Petrenko, Krzysztof Urbański, Joshua Bell, Ning Feng, Boris Giltburg, Lang Lang, Leonidas Kavakos, Olivier Latry, Yo-Yo Ma and Akiko Suwanai. The HK Phil promotes the work of Hong Kong and Chinese composers through an active commissioning programme, and it has released recordings on the Naxos label featuring Tan Dun and Bright Sheng, each conducting their own compositions.
The HK Phil runs diverse education and community programmes in schools and outdoor spaces, bringing music into the hearts of tens of thousands of children and families every year.
The Swire Group has been the Principal Patron of the HK Phil since 2006. Through this current sponsorship donation, the largest in the orchestra’s history, Swire endeavours to foster access to classical music and stimulate cultural participation in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland. A critical aspect of this is engaging with the community, especially young people. The sponsorship will also help promote local artistic excellence and enhance Hong Kong’s reputation as one of the great cities in the world.
Thanks to a significant subsidy from the Government of the HKSAR and long-term funding from Principal Patron Swire, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and other supporters, the HK Phil now boasts a full-time annual schedule of core classical repertoire and innovative popular programming, extensive education and community programmes, and collaborations with, amongst others, Hong Kong Ballet, Opera Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Arts Festival. The history of the HK Phil dates back to the establishment of the Sino-British Orchestra in 1947. In 1957, the orchestra was officially registered as the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and became fully professional in 1974. The HK Phil is a registered charitable organisation.

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Currently Resident Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil), Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Macao Orchestra, Programme Director of the Macao International Music Festival, Chief Conductor of the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Partner of the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, Lio is praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “a startling conducting talent”. He was the second prize winner of the third Svetlanov International Conducting Competition in Paris with Audience Prize and Orchestra Prize, and he has served as the first Chinese Assistant Conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Lio has successfully collaborated with many leading orchestras across the globe. Recently he was invited as the first Chinese conductor to conduct subscription concert with the Vienna Symphony, and he also received an invitation by the French government to lead the first Saudi Arabia performance tour with Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. He completed ten performances in Taiwan with NTSO, appeared at Music in PyeongChang Festival, and conducted the Season Finale concert with the HK Phil. Other collaborated orchestras including Detroit Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, Seoul Philharmonic, NHK, Hiroshima, Tokyo Metropolitan, Kyoto Symphony, Russian National Symphony, Moscow Philharmonic, Latvian National Symphony Orchestras and more.

Lio has also participated in opera productions. Lio recently collaborated with National Taichung Theater on Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Other opera performances include collaborations with Musica Viva Hong Kong on La bohème, L’elisir d’amore, Turandot, Madama Butterfly, Carmen; and was invited by Valery Gergiev as guest conductor at the Mariinsky Theatre. As a concert pianist, Lio has collaborated with Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

Educated at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, The Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the New England Conservatory, Lio is a founding member and President of the Macao Chamber Music Association. For his contributions to the development of arts and culture, he has received Certificate of Commendation and Medal of Cultural Merit from both governments of Hong Kong and Macao. In 2021, Lio is the recipient of the Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Young Persons award. In 2022, he is awarded Artist of the Year (Music) of the 16th Hong Kong Arts Development Awards and appointed a Justice of the Peace by the HKSAR Government.

Kyohei Sorita has emerged as one of Japan’s most celebrated pianists since winning the silver medal at the 2021 Chopin Competition in Warsaw. He is the founder, producer, and conductor of the Japan National Orchestra and operates his own record label, NOVA. Sorita also produces "Solistiade," a music salon fostering connections between young musicians and music lovers. Recognized by Forbes as one of Asia's most influential business personalities
under 30, Sorita is a dynamic force both on and off the stage.
In August 2025, Sorita will make his highly anticipated debut at the Salzburger Festspiele with the Mozarteum Orchestra, becoming the first Japanese pianist since Mitsuko Uchida in 1989 to debut as a soloist with orchestra at the Festspiele. Notably, he will also be the first Japanese artist to perform in the dual role of soloist and conductor at this prestigious event.
Sorita's international career gained momentum in 2023 with a lauded debut at the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.
His May 2024 performance with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, where he dazzled as both pianist and conductor, further solidified his reputation, leading to immediate re-invitations from both orchestras.
At the outset of the 2023/24 season, Sorita appeared as pianist and conductor with the Japan National Orchestra at the Südtirol Festival Meran, hailed as "the discovery of the festival." Shortly thereafter, he collaborated with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under Alan Gilbert during a Japan tour featuring Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1. February 2024 marked another milestone with his debut with the Residentie Orkest, performing in The Hague and Utrecht, followed by an Asian tour with the Basel Chamber Orchestra later that season.
The current season has seen Sorita debut with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn and announce return engagements with the Munich Philharmonic and Tonkünstler Orchestra. Upcoming seasons include a debut at the Klavierfestival Ruhr, reappearances with the Mozarteum Orchestra, a Japan tour with members of the Scharoun
Ensemble of the Berlin Philharmonic, and another Japan tour with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich under Paavo Järvi.
Sorita has performed with esteemed ensembles such as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Warsaw National Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, and the NHK, Yomiuri, and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestras. He has worked under renowned conductors including Robin Ticciati, Sebastian Weigle, Yutaka Sado, Andrea Battistoni, Andrey Boreyko, and Mikhail Pletnev.
Kyohei Sorita became known to a wider audience overnight when he won first prize, the audience prize and three other special prizes at the 81st Japanese Music Competition in 2012. Sorita pursued advanced studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. Early highlights included his solo recital debut and performance with the Mariinsky Orchestra at the Russian International Music Festival, followed by a triumphant sold-out recital at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall in 2016.