Richmond Symphony Orchestra Appoints Keitaro Harada as New Associate Conductor
By: Matt Smith Apr. 11, 2015
RICHMOND, Va. (April 10, 2015) - The Richmond Symphony is proud to announce that Associate Conductor Keitaro Harada has been appointed as the new Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
While Keitaro will start his new role with Cincinnati starting in the fall of 2015, he will continue to serve out the remainder of his contract with the RSO with a reduced schedule through May of 2016. In 2015-16 he will conduct the RSO's Come & Play community concert and three of the Genworth Symphony Pops Series programs including its live score performance to the silent film Nosferatu, the annual Let It Snow holiday concerts and Steve Lippia's 100th anniversary Frank Sinatra tribute: Centennial Celebration.
Music Director Steven Smith says: "While we are sorry to see Kei go after such a short time here in Richmond, we wish him great success for his new opportunity in Cincinnati and in future endeavors. We are fortunate to be able to attract such a talented young conductor to the RSO and cheer the impact he has made on our organization and community."
During his time with the RSO, Keitaro has served as the Jack and Mary Ann Frable Associate Conductor for the Richmond Symphony since fall 2014, and conducted various RSO concerts from the Genworth Symphony Pops and Union Bank & Trust LolliPops Series. He also serves as the primary conductor for the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra and Elizabeth G. Schneider Discovery Series education concerts, as well as the annual Come and Play - a concert showcasing the talents of over 600 community members performing alongside Richmond Symphony musicians
About Keitaro Harada
Conductor Keitaro Harada continues to be recognized at the highest levels for his
artistic abilities and passion for musical excellence. As a recipient of The Solti
Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award (2014 and 2015), Bruno Walter National
Conductor Preview (2013), the Seiji Ozawa Conducting Fellowship at Tanglewood
Music Festival, a student of Lorin Maazel at Castleton Festival and Fabio Luisi at Pacific
Music Festival, Harada's credentials are exemplary.
Newly appointed Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra,
Harada is also Associate Conductor of the Arizona Opera and Associate Conductor of
the Richmond Symphony. Harada begins his appointment with the Cincinnati Symphony
and Pops Orchestra in the fall of 2015. For Arizona Opera, he leads a production of La
fille du régiment in spring of 2015 and of Carmen in 2016.
The 2014-15 season held Harada's conducting debut in Japan with the New Japan
Philharmonic in a sold out performance. He also conducted performances with Tucson
Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Sierra Vista Symphony, Orquesta
Filarmónica de Sonora and numerous performances with Richmond Symphony.
In 2013, Harada was selected by the League of American Orchestras as one of only six
conductors for the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, a prestigious showcase
that occurs biennially in an effort to promote gifted, emerging conductors to orchestra
industry leaders. In 2012, Harada was a semi-finalist at the 9th Grzegorz Fitelberg
International Competition for Conductors in Poland. In 2011, Harada was one of ten
semi-finalists invited by Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony to participate in the
First Chicago Symphony Orchestra Solti International Conducting Competition and he
made his professional opera conducting debut with North Carolina Opera.
Early in his career, Harada served as Music Director of the Phoenix Youth Symphony.
During his tenure, he elevated the organization's profile, expanded their season; added
challenging repertoire, and took the symphony on a European performance and
education tour that culminated with a master class on the main stage of the Berlin
Philharmonic.
Harada has also studied under Christoph von Dohnányi, Robert Spano, Michael Tilson
Thomas, Oliver Knussen, Herbert Blomstedt, Adrian Gnam and Stefan Asbury. He has
been the Principal Guest Conductor for Sierra Vista Symphony Orchestra since 2009, is
a three-time winner of the International Conductors Workshop and Competition in
Georgia, received an Honorable Mention in the International Academy of Advanced
Conducting in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was a semi-finalist for the 2009 Eduardo
Mata International Conducting Competition in Mexico City, Mexico.
Harada champions creative programming, development of the orchestra as a part of a
community's cultural fabric, advancement of each musician he encounters, and
responsibility as an artistic and civic leader. A native of Tokyo, Japan, he is a graduate
of Interlochen Arts Academy and Mercer University. He completed his formal training at
University of Arizona with Thomas Cockrell and Charles Bontrager. Very early in his
career, he was selected as a guest artist for National Public Radio's From the Top and
is featured as a favorite guest alumnus on their PBS television documentary. Arizona
Public Broadcasting produced a documentary on the bright career of Keitaro titled:
"Music...Language Without Words" for the television series AZ Illustrated in 2013.
Harada's general manager is JEJ Artists. Engagements in Asia are managed by Japan
Arts.
www.kharada.com
About the Richmond Symphony
Founded in 1957, the Richmond Symphony is an orchestra of more than 70 professional musicians, the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus and more than 260 students in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program. Each season, more than 200,000 members of the community enjoy concerts, radio broadcasts, and educational outreach programs. The Richmond Symphony is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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