Members Profile
Conductor
Hidemi Suzuki
	Although he is usually called as "baroque cello player", his activity up to now includes various genres, such as solo recitals and concerto playing with symphony orchestras, performances of contemporary music, music with Japanese traditional instruments, and also accompaniment for Cora Vaucaire and Juliette Greco. Conducted the "Cosi fan tutte" when he still was a student. He was a founding member of Kobe chamber orchestra as a principal cellist and vice conductor at the same time, is now a chief guest conductor of Arte dei Suonatori, a young group with original instruments based in Poznan, Poland.
Strings
Yuuko Araki (violin)
	Graduated from Toho-Gakuen high school and the school of music, played at the graduation concert. Finished the post-graduated course of the same school. In 1998, played in Turkey and Israel by a cultural exchange of Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs. Studied violin with Ms. Akiko Tatsumi. Got a prize at the 45th All Japan Music Competition for students, and the 7th Mozart Competition of Japan. Started to play baroque violin during the student time, studied baroque violin technique with Natsumi Wakamatsu. Now active both as baroque player in Bach Collegium Japan and others, and also as a modern player.
Kei Shirai (violin)
	Born in Trinidad and Tobago, in 1983. After returning to Japan at age three, he began to study the violin. He won second place in the 70th Japan Music Competition, also winning the Masuzawa Prize. He has studied under Tsugio Tokunaga, Yasuko Ohya, and Chikashi Tanaka. He has participated in master classes under Ivry Gitlis and Zakhar Bron. He studies baroque violin under Natsumi Wakamatsu, and is currently a second year student at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.
Azumi Takada (violin) Leader
	Started violin at age of three. Studied violin under Mr. Saburo Sumi, Mr. Yoshio Unno and others at Toho Gakuen School of Music. Finished the post- graduate course of the same school. Won the 4th prize of the 2nd Japan International Music Competition in 1983. Also won the second prize of the 41st Geneva International Music Competition in 1985 (no first prize was given). Got the Muramatsu Award in the same year. Ms. Takada has been performing as a soloist since 1982, also as a leading performer of baroque music in various groups. Among those, she played as a member of "Hotteterre Ensemble" since 1981, played numerous concerts and recorded for Archiv label. Currently plays as a concertmaster of "Bach Collegium Japan" and "L'estro Armonico Tokyo", also a leading member of the "Tokyo Bach Mozart Orchestra" and other groups with original instruments. As a solo jazz violinist, she performs in the "Sweet Fantasia Orchestra". Her CD recordings, "Azumi Takada Solo!" and "Bartok-Violin Sonatas" have won high praise. Teaches now at the Department of Arts, School of Humanities and Culture, at Tokai University.
Harumi Takada (violin)
	Started violin playing at age of three. Graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and its graduate course. Passed an audition by NHK during the student time. Since 1989 she has been a member of Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Beside the orchestral activity, she gave recitals in Tokyo and Nagoya, also played as a soloist with Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra and Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra. As a baroque violinist she plays with "L'Estro Armonico Tokyo", "Tokyo Bach-Mozart Orchestra", and "Bach Collegium Japan".
Yuko Takeshima (violin)
	Born in Fukuoka, Japan. Graduated from Toho-Gakuen school of music, studied violin with late Ryosaku Kubota, Mr. Seiji Amano and others. Won the first prize of All Japan student Competition (west Japan section). She was interested in baroque instruments already during the student time, started her activity with it as a member of "Tokyo Bach-Mozart Orchestra". Also played with "Cremona San Michele Ensemble". She now plays regularly with "L'Estro Armonico Tokyo" and "Bach Collegium Japan".
Kaori Toda (violin)
	Graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, studied violin with Masanobu Wakabayashi, Shigeko Hayashi, and Seiji Kageyama. Also studied baroque violin with Natsumi Wakamatsu. Won the highest prize at the Yamanashi Early Music Competition in 1992. In the same year she came to Holland to study with Prof. Sigiswald Kuijken at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague. Got the diploma in 1996. She has been active as a member of "Bach Collegium Japan" and "La Petite Bande", also performed with Andreas Scholl, Agnes Melon and others for concerts and recordings in Europe, Japan, and also in South America.
Satoki Nagaoka (violin)
	Satoki Nagaoka graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, both the Faculty of Music and also its attached Senior High School of Music, and is currently in the second year of the graduate school's master degree course. He has studied violin and chamber music with Kiyoshi Okayama, and baroque violin with Natsumi Wakamatsu.
Yukie Yamaguchi (violin)
	Born in Chiba, Japan. Studied violin with Aiko Suzuki, Toshiya Eto, and baroque violin with Natsumi Wakamatsu at the Toho Gakuen College of Music. Graduated from the school and finished its post-graduate course. Performed Akira Miyoshi's violin concerto with the Toho Academy Orchestra, also performed at Akiyoshidai 20th-century music seminar & festival, the Pacific Music Festival and other music festivals.
Satomi Watanabe (violin)
	Graduated from Toho Gakuen College of Music and its graduate course. Studied violin with Isako Shinozaki, chamber music with Nobuo Okayama, conducting technique with Kazue Kamiya. After the graduation she started the baroque violin, studied with Natsumi Wakamatsu. She is now active mainly as a baroque player.
Natsumi Wakamatsu (violin) Leader
	Born in Sendai. Studied violin with prof. S. Sumi and Toshiya Eto at the Toho Gakuen College of Music in Tokyo and its graduate course. After the graduation she started to play the baroque violin. To continue this specialization, she went to Holland to study with prof. Sigiswald Kuijken at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague. In 1985 she received the artist diploma. During her study she became a member of various baroque/classical orchestras in Europe such as the Orchestra of the 18th Century, La Petite Bande, and Chapelle Royale, joined numerous concerts and recordings. In 1986 she returned to Japan to continue her concert activities. She is one of the most important and leading figures in the development of the authentic string playing in Japan. Currently she is the concertmaster of the Bach Collegium Japan and L'estro Armonico Tokyo, member of the 18th Century Orchestra. Not only in Japan, but is she also active in Europe and in Australia. She now teaches the baroque violin at the Toho Gakuen College of Music, and Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Released a CD of Mozart's sonatas for Pianoforte and violin (pianoforte: Yoshiko Kojima) from BIS in 2001.
Amiko Watabe (violin)
	A student of the violin since age six, Amiko Watabe graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, both the Faculty of Music and also its attached Senior High School of Music. She studied viola under the late Fumiki Asazuma, Toshiyuki Uzuka, and Rainer Moog. She has been active in performing and recording chamber music and orchestral works since her school days. In 1997 she participated in the International Modern Music Festival as well as in performances of the Tokyo Pops Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and at the United Nations. Also, after graduation she studied baroque violin under Natsumi Wakamatsu. She is highly active in period instrument performances and is a participant in the Bach Collegium Japan project to record all of J. S. Bach's extant cantatas. She is a member of the Tokyo Bach Mozart Orchestra and of Bach Collegium Japan.
Yoshiko Morita (viola)
	A graduate of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Ms. Morita began studying the violin at age four and took third place in the 30th Mainichi Student Music Competition. She studied under Takeshi Yamamoto, Yuji Togi, and Saburo Sumi. She performed in a chamber music concert in Australia sponsored by the Cultural Exchange Foundation. Her viola teachers have included Fumiki Asazuma, Toshiyuki Uzuka, Yuki Hyakutake, and Ulrich Koch. Since graduation she has been developing her interest in performing on period instruments, and has studied early music performance methods with Toshinari Ohashi and Sadao Udagawa, as well as the baroque violin under Natsumi Wakamatsu, Katharine Macintosh, and Enrico Gatti. Ms. Morita's diverse activities as a musician include both modern and period performances, such as with the Asian tour of the Asian Fantasy Orchestra (a conglomeration of musicians from many genres), the Sweet Fantasy Orchestra (big band jazz featuring a string section), and both live and studio performances with the Aska Strings Project. She is a member of several ensembles, including the Bach Collegium Japan, Tokyo Bach Mozart Orchestra, L'Estro Armonico Tokyo, Collegium Argentum, and Mito dell'Arco String Quartet.
Mina Fukazawa (viola)
	A successful competitor in the 3rd Japan Chamber Music Competition (1993), Ms. Fukazawa performed in the 1995 Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Up-and-Coming Musician Debut Concert and in 1997 held a viola joint recital in the Recital Hall of Tokyo Bunka Kaikan. In 1997 she also completed her course of studies at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music Graduate School. She has studied under Keiko Chuma, Takaya Urakawa, Noriko Kawai, and Junji Suganuma, and studies baroque viola under Yoshiko Morita and Natsumi Wakamatsu. She has performed in concerts with L'Estro Armonico Tokyo, The Baroque Band, Bach Collegium Japan, Orchestra Symposion, and Conversum Musicum, among others.
Takashi Kaketa (violoncello)
	After graduating from Sophia University's Faculty of Humanities, Takashi Kaketa completed the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music Non-Degree Performance Course for studying the cello, and is currently seeking his master degree in the Early Music Course of the university's Graduate School of Music. He has studied the cello under Ryoichi Fujimori and Hideki Kitamoto, the baroque cello under Hidemi Suzuki and Roel Diletiens, and chamber music under Hiroyuki Yamaguchi and Nobuko Yamazaki. Mr. Kaketa is currently active with both modern and baroque instruments, including performances with Bach Collegium Japan, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, and NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo.
Nobuo Furukawa (violoncello)
	Born in Kyoto in 1973, Mr. Furukawa began studying the cello at age nine. He graduated from the Toho High School Music Department and went on to graduate in 1996 from Toho Gakuen University. He has studied with the late Yoritoyo Inoue, the late Asako Tsuda, Nobuko Yamazaki and Chishou Akitsu, as well as with Hidemi Suzuki (baroque cello). In 1992 he was awarded the Hideo Saito Prize at the 1992 Tokyo International Competition (chamber music) and in 1995 he won the 2nd prize at the 64th Japan Music Competition, among many other competition prizes received since student days. A 1996 scholarship from the Yasuda Life Insurance Quality of Life Cultural Foundation allowed him to study with Chaba Onizzai at the Liszt Conservatory in Hungary for two years. In 1997 he received a diploma at Germany's Markneukirchen International Competition. Since returning to Japan in 1998 he has played principal cello in the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. In 1999 he released two CDs simultaneously on the DENON label, "Cellissimo!" and "I Love You," and has since followed these with five more. Mr. Furukawa is in exceedingly great demand to give concerts and recitals, to play with different orchestras, and to participate in various chamber music projects. His wide-ranging activities span a broad range of genres and formats, and he is very busy as a soloist and chamber music performer.
Nakako Nishizawa (violoncello)
	Nakako Nishizawa graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, both the Faculty of Music and also its attached Senior High School of Music. She has studied cello under Vaclav Adamira, Keishi Miki, Reine Flachot, as well as the organ with Masaaki Suzuki and the baroque cello with Hidemi Suzuki. She currently plays with many Japanese baroque orchestras as a freelance baroque cellist. Also, as a member of the ensemble Medio Registro, which specializes in early baroque repertoire, she is exploring the musical potential of bass instruments, using a five-string cello and small violone.
Takashi Konno (contrabass)
	Born in Tokyo, from age 14 Takashi Konno studied the contrabass under the late Mitsuru Onozaki. He graduated from Tokyo College of Music in 1986. During his student days he studied baroque ensemble theory and technique under Naoyuki Ohtake and Yoshio Watanabe. He also became a member of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo. In 1992 Mr. Konno went to study in Europe as an Agency for Cultural Affairs overseas art researcher. There he matriculated into the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Music in Antwerp, where he began to study French bowing technique under Etienne Siebens. He was a performer under contract with the Flanders Opera Orchestra. Primarily in Belgium and Holland he was active as a soloist and chamber musician, and performed in the Flanders Music Festival Artwerpen '93, as well as other festivals. After completing studies at the Antwerp Conservatory with the highest rank, Mr. Konno went to Italy where he participated in a master class in Sermoneta and studied under Francesco Petracchi at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena. He was awarded the Diploma di Merito by the Accademia Chigiana. After returning to Japan he gave solo concerts at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Kyoto Concert Hall and other venues, which were all well received. He also is enthusiastically engaged in early music performances, including those given by The Baroque Band and Bach Collegium Japan.
Kennichi Naito (contrabass)
	Born in the City of Okayama in 1961, Kennichi Naito began studying the contrabass while a student at Hyogo Prefectural Kobe High School. In 1984 he graduated from Kyoto City University of Arts and received the Department of Music Award. After working as a performer with the Kobe Chamber Orchestra (since renamed to Kobe City Chamber Orchestra), he currently holds the post of contrabass assistant leader with the Osaka Century Orchestra. Also, since 1987 he has been an instructor at Soai University, training the next generation of musicians. Mr. Naito also performs on period instruments as a member of Bach Collegium Japan.
Seiji Nishizawa (contrabass,violone)
	Born in Sapporo, Seiji Nishizawa graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and its graduate course. He studied the contrabass under Yuichi Hayashi and the late Asahiko Eguchi, and studied chamber music under the Mari Iwamoto String Quartet. After a period of employment as the lead contrabassist for the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, he is currently a member of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Nishizawa is also well versed in period instrument performances and plays the violone for Bach Collegium Japan, the Tokyo Bach Mozart Orchestra, L'Estro Armonico Tokyo and other major period instrument ensembles and orchestras in Japan.
Wind Instrument
Donna Agrell (bassoon)
	Donna Agrell began her musical studies at the University of Alaska, and later, the university of Wisconsin in Madison(USA). After coming to Europe in 1975, she attended the Royal Conservatory in the Hague, and completed her bassoon studies with Jiri Stavicek at the Musikakademie der Stadt Basel in 1981. During this time she began her specialization in historical bassoon. Between 1980 and 1990, she was a member of Sigiswald Kuijken's "La Petite Bande", with innumerous recordings and concert tours. Donna Agrell has been a member of the Orchestra of the 18th Century since 1981, when it was founded by Frans Bruggen, and is also proncipal bassoonist with the Freiburger Barock Orchestra. She is a member of the ensemble "Gruppe 1828", specializing in string and wind music of the 19th century. In addition to various international master courses, Donna Agrell teaches historical bassoon at the Royal Concervatory in Hague, the Amsterdam Conservatory, and La Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel.
Kiyotaka Dosaka (bassoon)
	Born in Shiga Prefecture, Kiyotaka Dosaka took up the bassoon upon entering the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music Attached Senior High School of Music as a clarinetist in 1963. He studied under the late Heihachiro Mita. In 1966 he matriculated into Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and while a student placed in the 37th and 38th All Japan Music Competition, in the clarinet and bassoon categories, respectively. After graduation from the university as a clarinetist in 1970, Mr. Dosaka entered the graduate school as a bassoonist. At the same time, he also entered Tokyo Municipal Symphony Orchestra as a bassoonist and became the leader in 1973. Mr. Dosaka began period bassoon performances in 1978, and has performed with many groups. Besides teaching bassoon and baroque bassoon at Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts and Toho Gakuen School of Music Period Instrument Department, he is also a member of Kioi Sinfonietta Tokyo, Tokyo Bach Mozart Orchestra, and Bach Collegium Japan. In 1992 he released a CD featuring Vivaldi's bassoon concerti RV 474 and 484 recorded with a baroque bassoon.
Yukiko Murakami (bassoon)
	Born and raised in Fukuoka, Yukiko Murakami graduated from Fukuoka University of Education's Music Training Program. While a student she began the bassoon as a minor area of study. Upon graduation she then entered the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music Non-Degree Performance Course to study the bassoon under Koji Okazaki. At that time she also joined the university's Bach Cantata Club, through which she was trained by Michio Kobayashi. After completing the university's master degree course, she went to Holland to study at the Royal Music Conservatory in the Hague. There she studied baroque bassoon under Donna Agrell. Currently she actively performs with many orchestras, primarily in Europe, including La Petite Bande, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, and Bach Collegium Japan.
Eduard Wesley oboe
	Eduard Wesly played on the modern oboe until 1997. During that year he changed to baroque and classical instruments. After that he played in the orchestras of J.E.Gardiner, Reinhard Goebel and Joachim Martini. He played solo concertos with Musica Antiqua Köln, Arte dei Suonatri and Le Parlement de Musique. In Orchestra Libera Classica he will play on an oboe made by Cahusac in London in about the year 1760.
Jasu Moisio oboe
	Jasu Moisio ( b.1977, Helsinki, Finland ) started his musical activities in a musical kindergarten at the age of 4, after which he was put to play the classical guitar following the footsteps of his rockmusician-guitarrist father and his uncles. During his years as a choirboy in the Helsinki Cathedrals�f boys choir- where Bach�fs Passions and the like were done on a regular basis- Jasu got interested in the oboe and the flute, and in 1990 he switched the guitar to modern oboe. In 1993 a former student of K.Ebbinge�fs returned to Finland giving the opportunity to Jasu to start with baroque oboe. After high school, in 1996, he went to study in Holland with K.Ebbinge and is now continuing in Paris with Marcel Ponseele. Over the years Jasu has gained a fair amount of orchestral and ensemble experience reaching from various baroque orchestras in Finland and the European Union Baroque Orchestra ( where he met Eduard Wesly the first time) to some of the most renowned orchestras in the Early music world like Gardiner�fs English Baroque Soloists and Brüggen�fs Orchestra of the 18th Century amongst others.
Ermes Pecchinini horn
	Ermes Pecchinini, was born in Italy in 1971. He studied music with Guido Corti and Rex Martin. After his studies he had lots of collaborations with sinfonic and lyric orchestras: TEATRO ALLA SCALA TEATRO COMUNALE DI FIRENZE In the moment he is very active in the world of ancient music. He is working with the principal orchestras of Europe: La Petite Bande Orch. Des Champs Elysées Il Fondamento Ensemble Zefiro Concerto Italiano Accademia Bizzantina Tafelmusik Les musiciens du Louvre E. P. did several recordings with different orchestras and two recordings as a soloist: A.Vivaldi: Concerto per due corni,due oboi, fagotto e viola d'amore (Ensemble L'Astrèe- Opus 111) G.P.Telemann : Suite per due corni ed orchestra ( Il Fondamento - Passacaille)
Dimer Maccaferri horn
	Dimer Maccaferri studied in Modena, Istituto "O.Vecchi" with mºGiorgini and took his diploma in Ferrara, Conservatorio "G.Frescobaldi" in 1991. He collaborates with several Opera Theatre and Symphonic Orchestras as 1st horn too: Orchestra del Teatro "G.Verdi" Trieste, Orchestra Sinfonica "G.Verdi" Milano, Testro delle Briciole Parma, Orchestra del Centenaio Verdiano Parma, Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia-Romagna "A.Toscanini". Since 1998 he plays 1st horn during the Opera Season with Orchestra "I Pomeriggi Musicali" in Milan. He plays also chamber music with Cammerton Quintet (a brass quintet) and Trama Ensemble (wind quintet) and has an intense concert activity playing natural horn with "Accademia Bizantina" Ravenna, "Il Quartettone" Milano, "Academia Montis Regalis" Mondovì (CN) and "Orchestra Fondazinone Arcadia" Milano. He has recorded for Opus 111, Bongiovanni, Stradivarius, Dynamic, I quaderni dell'Agenda.
Kiyomi Suga (flute)
	Kiyomi Suga - a Japanese flutist educated in a multicultural ambiance of USA, Japan and Europe, plays flute as a member of chamber music ensembles and orchestras. She started playing recorder and traverso at an age of 10, in Japan, with professor Masahiro Arita, and in 1994 she graduated from Toho University where she studied with professor Arita. She continued her studies at Brussels Royal Conservatory with Barthold Kuijken - flute, Herman Stinders - chamber music, and Peter van Heyghen - early music history and esthetics. She graduated with distinction in 1999. Kiyomi recorded several CDs as a member of the following ensembles: that of her professor Masahiro Arita and Bach Collegium Japan. She toured around the world with Bach Collegium Japan, La Petite Band and Anima Aeterna. In 1999 she received the third Prise in Brugge International Competition Musica Antiqua.
Liliko Maeda (flute)
	As a second-year high school student, Liliko Maeda captured first place in the flute category of the All-Japan Student Music Competition, West Japan Tournament. Thereafter she switched her focus to the baroque flute, studying under Masahiro Arita, and matriculated into Toho Gakuen University's Music Division, Period Instrument Department. Thereafter she went to study at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, graduating from there in 2000. She studied under both Barthold Kuijken and Wilbert Hazelzet. Ms. Maeda won first place in the 1996 Yamanashi Early Music Competition, and in the 1999 Brussels International Early Music Competition, she took second place (no first place was awarded). She is active as a performer and recording artist with Bach Collegium Japan, La Fete Galante, and other ensembles both inside and outside Japan.
Keyboard
Naoya Ohtsuka (Harpsichord)
	Naoya Ohtsuka graduated from the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, Musicology Department, and specialized in the harpsichord at the university's graduate school. He studied the harpsichord under Masaaki Suzuki and Yoshio Watanabe, and the organ under Naoko Imai. He also was a student at Conservatorium van Amsterdam where he studied harpsichord under Bob van Asperen and organ under Jacques van Oortmerssen, graduating from that conservatory with a performer's diploma in 1998. Besides serving as organist for the St. Urbanus Church outside Amsterdam, he also performs, both solo and in ensembles, around Europe. Since returning to Japan in 1999, he has made Tokyo his base for performance activities.