General Music Director - Theater Lübeck (from August 2013)
Artistic Director - Biwako Hall (Opera Theatre)
Chief Conductor Artistic Advisor - Gunma Symphony Orchestra
Principal Guest Conductor - Japan Century Orchestra, Osaka
Music Director - Tokyo Mozart Players
Newly appointed as Music Director of the Theater Lübeck from 2013/14, Ryusuke Numajiri is one of the most demanded conductors in Japan.
Ryusuke Numajiri was catapulted to the forefront of attention in the music world when he won the 40th Besanşon International Conducting Competition in 1990. He has since been invited to lead many of the world"s foremost orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulous, Ensemble Orchestre de Paris, Deutsches Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Darmstadt, Staatskapelle Weimar, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra.
In 1999, EMI recorded his performance of Gubaidulina"s The Canticle of the Sun with the London Symphony Orchestra and Mstislav Rostropovich as soloist.
Numajiri has a particular interest in introducing contemporary repertoire to audiences. This passion has led him to conduct the Japan premieres of Philip Glass"s Peace Symphony, Busoni"s Piano Concerto and "Doktor Faustus", Zemlinsky"s "Der Zwerg", Schönberg"s Notturno, Takemitsu"s Spectral Canticle, as well as works by Messiaen, Andriessen, Górecki, Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Berio, Dutilleux, Xenakis, Birtwistle, Matthews, Rott and Ichiro Nodaira - earning the praise of each composer in the process. His knowledge of the contemporary repertoire earned him an invitation to join the jury of the Masterprize International Composing Competition in the UK in 2001 and 2002.
His tour with the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra in 2004, bringing Takemitsu"s Ceremonial and Messiaen"s Turangalila Symphonie to European audiences, received great critical acclaim. In March 2006, he conducted the Deutsches Sinfonieorchester Berlin in a memorial concert for Takemitsu on the 10th anniversary of the composer"s death.
Since making his debut as an opera conductor in October 1997 with Mozart"s "Die Entfrung aus dem Serail", Numajiri has gone on to lead various productions. Recent engagement highlights of operas include Zemlinsky"s "Der Zwerg", "Der Rosenkavalier" (with Homoki), "Salome" (with Gruber), "Turandot", "Lulu", "La Boheme", "Tristan und Isolde" (with Heinicke) and "Tannhäuser" (with Hampe) at the Biwako Hall and "Le Nozze di Figaro", "Carmen", "Tosca" and Ikebe"s "ROKUMEIKAN" (world premiere) at the New National Theatre Tokyo, "Jonny spielt auf" at Cologne Opera and "Don Giovanni" (with Konwitschny) at Komische Oper Berlin. He has been invited by Bayerische Staatsoper regularly.
In 2012 he made his debut at Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre symphonique Mulhouse, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra as well as Opera Australia with "Madame Butterfly".
His discography includes the Gubaidulina Concerto for Cello with the London Symphony Orchestra and Mstislav Rostropovich for EMI Classics and works by Toru Takemitsu with Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra for Denon (3 CDs), Messiaen"s Turangalila with Japan Philharmonic, Mahler 7th with Tokyo Philharmonic, Mendelssohn 2nd "Lobgesang" with Century Orchestra Osaka, Beethoven symphonies with Tokyo Mozart Players for Exton and Japanese Orchestral Favourites with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra for Naxos.
Ryusuke Numajiri currently resides in Berlin and Tokyo.
