Live Håkan Hardenberger performs night-sky-blue Thu 8 – Sat 10 May

Nodoka Okisawa has been appointed as the 14th Chief Conductor of the City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra. During her initial three-year term which began in April 2023, she will lead the renowned Japanese orchestra in subscription, education and family concerts.

Nodoka is the winner of the prestigious Concours international de jeunes chefs d’orchestre de Besançon 2019, where she was awarded the Grand Prix, the Orchestra Prize and the Audience Prize. Furthermore, in 2018 she won the Tokyo International Music Competition for Conducting, one of the most important international conducting competitions.

From 2020 to 2022, Nodoka Okisawa held a scholarship at the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker and was also assistant to Kirill Petrenko. In addition to her own concert projects together with the academy members of the Berliner Philharmoniker, she also conducted the Solidarity Concert for Ukraine in March 2022 with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker at the invitation of the Federal President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Another highlight was the joint anniversary concert with Kirill Petrenko to mark the 50th anniversary of the Karajan Academy in May 2022.

In the 2023/24 season, Nodoka Okisawa makes her debut with the Kammerorchester Basel, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, among others. She will also make her subscription debut with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo and returns to the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and the Münchener Symphoniker, where she was Artist in Residence during the 2022/23 season.

She is a regular guest with leading orchestras in Japan, including the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa. At the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival 2022, the 30th anniversary edition of the festival, Nodoka Okisawa made her debut with the Saito Kinen Orchestra conducting Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” in a production by Laurent Pelly.

Okisawa attended numerous masterclasses, including with Neeme and Paavo Järvi and Kurt Masur. In 2019 she was selected for the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy in Tokyo. She has gained further experience in the past as assistant conductor of the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa and in opera productions in Japan and Europe. In November 2020, she conducted a production of Lehár’s “The Merry Widow” at the Tokyo Nikikai Opera Theatre.

In 2023, Nodoka Okisawa was awarded the “Hideo Saito Memorial Fund Award” by the Sony Music Foundation.

Born in Aomori, Japan, she learned to play the piano, cello and oboe from an early age. She studied conducting at the Tokyo University of the Arts with Ken Takaseki and Tadaaki Otaka and graduated with a master’s degree. In 2019 she obtained her second master’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin under Christian Ehwald and Hans-Dieter Baum. Nodoka Okisawa lives in Berlin.

See Nodoka Okisawa conduct night-sky-blue with the RSNO on 8, 9 and 10 May 2025.

During his extraordinary 40-year career as the world’s most prominent trumpet soloist, Håkan Hardenberger has not only pushed the boundaries of what can be achieved with the instrument; he has inspired countless composers and fellow musicians to expand their horizons and explore unknown musical territories with him. His quest for excellence and innovation continues to this day, and he champions the finest works written for the trumpet by performing them with stunning virtuosity and sheer dedication to music.

Hardenberger performs regularly with the world’s leading orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Concertgebouworkest, London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra. Conductors he collaborates with include Marin Alsop, Alan Gilbert, Daniel Harding, Susanne Mälkki, Ingo Metzmacher, Andris Nelsons, Sakari Oramo, Sir Simon Rattle, François-Xavier Roth, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and John Storgårds.

Many works written for Håkan Hardenberger stand as cornerstones of what has become a vast repertoire thanks to his tireless commitment. These have included pieces by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Brett Dean, Helen Grime, HK Gruber, Hans Werner Henze, Betsy Jolas, György Ligeti, Olga Neuwirth, Tōru Takemitsu, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Rolf Wallin and Jörg Widmann.

Notable engagements of the 2023/24 season include the UK premiere of Jörg Widmann’s “Towards Paradise” with the London Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding, the Swedish premiere with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Andris Nelsons, followed by the Finnish premiere with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Dima Slobodeniouk. Further performances of the Widmann concerto with the composer conducting include with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, NDR Radiophilharmonie and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Play-directing now forms an integral part of Hardenberger’s musical activities, he returns to Camerata Nordica and debuts at Megaron, the Athens concert hall with Ergon ensemble. In Addition, he appears at Ascona Music Festival with Fabien Gabel and continues his collaboration with the Royal College of Music, London, and Grafenegg Festival Academy where he performs, teaches, and mentors young musicians.

Håkan Hardenberger’s recent 60th birthday season featured two extraordinary trumpet concertos: Jörg Widmann’s “Towards Paradise”, co-commissioned by the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Helen Grime’s “night-sky-blue”, co-commissoned by the Koussevitzky Foundation, Library of Congress, London Symphony Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra. He appeared as “Artist Portrait” with the London Symphony Orchestra, performing Betsy Jolas’s “Histoire Vraies” with Sir Simon Rattle in London and Paris, and giving country premieres of the Grime concerto in Germany and Denmark.

Hardenberger performs frequently in duo with pianist Roland Pöntinen and percussionist Colin Currie. With the latter Hardenberger released a recording of duo works by Brett Dean, André Jolivet, and others. The latest addition to his prolific discography on BIS features French trumpet concertos by Jolivet, Schmitt and Tomasi, as well as Jolas’ “Onze Lieder”. He has also recorded for Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca and EMI.

From 2016 to 2018 Hardenberger was the Artistic Director of the Malmö Chamber Music Festival. Born in Malmö, Sweden, he began studying the trumpet at the age of eight with Bo Nilsson in Malmö and continued his studies at the Paris Conservatoire with Pierre Thibaud and in Los Angeles with Thomas Stevens. He is a professor at the Malmö Conservatoire.

See Håkan Hardenberger perform night-sky-blue with the RSNO on 8,9 and 10 May 2025.