= Official Website of Koji KAWAMOTO, Conductor =

Kawamoto was born in Shimane, Japan in 1972. He is a prominent conductor who works throughout the European continent from Spain to Russia. He won the prize of conducting at the Prague Spring International Music competition in 2007, when he impressed the critics and audience in Prague. According to his success, he was named the music director of Radio Symphony Orchestra Pilsen (RSOP) in the Czech Republic as early as the same year. These facts should be paid attention to that Kawamoto is the first Japanese music director in Czech Republic and that his music talent is taken as orthodox in one of the places of classic music tradition.

As for the eminent orchestras of the capital in Czech, Kawamoto conducted Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2007 and 2010, as well as National Theatre Prague Symphony Orchestra in 2009. He is now in the third season as the music director of RSOP and has already made great contribution to RSOP and the city, gaining the support of the audience, the regional government and enterprises. For example, he played a crucial role in the process where Pilsen had been nominated as the 2015 European Capital of Culture, acquiring from enterprises the commitments for the financial supports to build a new concert hall in the city.
In 2010/2011, under Kawamoto’s conducting RSOP was invited to perform and made great success at the season opening concert of the Brucknerhaus Linz. In the near future of the same season, they are to make a tour in Tübingen, Germany and to appear as a guest at the Mozart Festival Würzburg, Germany.

Kawamoto studied conducting under the instruction of Hiroshi Wakasugi, Dr. Francis Travis, Masahisa Endo, Hiroyuki Odano, Maestro Sergiu Celibidache and Valery Gergiev in the Tokyo University of Fine arts and Music. After his graduation in 1995, he continued to study under Gustav Meier in the USA.
In 1994, Kawamoto won the prize of conducting in 10th Tokyo International Music Competition. After the honor, he started his professional music career as a conductor, and has frequently appeared as a guest conductor in principal Japanese orchestras so far.

In 2001, Kawamoto made his debut in Europe, conducting at the 100th anniversary Verdi memorial gala concert with the Theater Vorpommern, North Germany, where he was received with enthusiasm by the audience, orchestra and critics. From 2001 to 2007, he was the principal conductor of the Theater Vorpommern and the principle conductor of the North East German Philharmonic. In 2003, he led the North East German Philharmonic to the South East Asia tour.

In 2003, he conducted at the Mainfrankentheater Würzburg, and in 2005, was invited to conduct the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra in Serbia as the first Japanese conductor for the orchestra. In 2006 and 2007, he conducted the Ontario Philharmonic in Toronto, which was virtually his American continent debut. In 2008 Kawamoto stretched his arms. He first worked with the Dnipropetrovsk State Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine, then the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra. Next year, the important year for Istanbul as a European Capital of Culture, he was nominated to conduct the season opening concert of the orchestra in 2009.
In the season 2009/2010, he appeared on the stages throughout the European continent: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Provincial de Málaga in Spain, Slovene National Theater Maribor, Musikkollegium Winterthur in Switzerland.