Tetsuro BAN

Japanese conductor Tetsuro Ban has successfully made numerous guest appearances across Europe, with around 40 orchestras and opera houses primarily in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Italy. At home, currently the Principal Conductor of the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra (since 2019) and Artistic Director of Biwako Hall (since 2023), he has conducted a number of orchestral and operatic performances across the country.

Ban was the Permanent Conductor at the Theater Biel (Bern, Switzerland; 1992-97). He subsequently held the posts of the First Permanent Conductor at the Theater Brandenburg (1997-98), Permanent Conductor at the Komische Oper Berlin (1998-2002), General Music Director at the Theater Eisenach (Thuringia, Germany; 2005-09), Principal Guest Conductor of the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra (2007-09), and the General Music Director at the Theater Regensburg (Bavaria, Germany; 2009-17). At the Komische Oper Berlin, he conducted over 170 performances across approximately 20 productions, including the new productions of Orphée aux enfers (directed by Kupfer) and Rigoletto (directed by Schüler), and the production of Falstaff (directed by Homoki), all of which raised significant attention. He was also well received at the Vienna Volksoper during the 2008/09 New Year holiday season conducting the theater's signature work Die Fledermaus. In addition, he has led many operas at venues such as the Stuttgart State Opera, Theater Basel, Biwako Hall, New National Theatre Tokyo, Tokyo Nikikai and the Nissay Theatre. He has conducted approximately 70 stage productions and a total of over 1,000 performances not only in Germany but also across Europe. He has been an annual guest at the Lech Classic Festival in Austria.

In Japan, Ban has recently won acclaim with productions such as the nation-wide co-produced Die Fledermaus (newly directed by Mansai Nomura) and three others held at Biwako Hall - Der Rosenkavalier (directed by Keiichi Nakamura), Die tote Stadt (directed by Masayoshi Kuriyama), and Turandot (directed by Jun Aguni). Meanwhile, the Principal Conductor of the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra has acted as a key figure in local culture, actively engaging his ensemble in concerts and school performances across Yamagata Prefecture. Under his leadership, the orchestra has garnered new fans through projects including a complete cycle of Beethoven's symphonies (2020-2024), the launch of a concert-style opera series in 2023, and the online streaming of their performances.

Born in Kyoto, Ban was trained as a composer by Ryohei Hirose and others at the Kyoto City University of Arts. After graduation, he studied conducting under Karl Österreicher, Leopold Hager and Yuji Yuasa at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
The first prize winner of the 44th Besançon International Competition for Conductors (1995), Ban received both the Encouragement Award (1996) and the Distinguished Service Award (2020) at the Kyoto Prefecture Cultural Contribution Award, the ABC Asahi Broadcasting Corporation International Music Award (1997), the Kyoto City New Artist Award (2000), the 2nd Hotel Okura Music Award, the 12th Akio Watanabe Music Foundation Music Award (2004), the 26th Kenichiro Todo Music Award (2006), and the 75th Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Prize (2024).

Ban has dedicated himself to education, notably as the Professor of Conducting at the Kyoto City University of Arts as well as a Special Visiting Professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts and the Kunitachi College of Music.