Koji Suzuki

Koji Suzuki graduated from Hokkaido University of Education (Sapporo Campus).Thereafter, he completed the Artist Diploma Program at Jacobs School of Music - Indiana University Bloomington, and acquired the Meisterklassen Diplom from Die Hochschule für Musik und Theater München in 1993. He also received the State Performer Diploma (Staatsexamen) from Richard-Strauss-Konservatorium München in 2002.He placed first in Harvey G. Phillips Tuba Competition in 1984, and won a prize at the 3rd Japan Wind and Percussion Instrument Competition in 1986. He also got the first prize at the Overseas Trainee Elective Competition (the Wind and Percussion category), organized by the Hokkaido International Cultural Exchange Promotion Association in 1990. He performed at the Sapporo City New Musicians Competition in 1988 and the New Musicians Competition led by Japan Federation of Musicians in 1990. He was selected as a member of the first PMF (Pacific Music Festival) Orchestra and performed at the Peace Memorial Concert; dedicated to the late Mr. Lenard Bernstein, in New York City in 1990. He was also chosen as a member of the Munich Orchestra Academy and the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival Orchestra in 1992. In 2001, he was selected as an overseas trainee by the Affinins Art Foundation. He performed the “Bass Tuba Concerto” by R.V. Williams, with The Sapporo Symphony Orchestra and The Kyushu Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as a guest performer at a number of International Tuba-related events, such as the 1990 International Tuba Euphonium Conference in Sapporo, Japan and the 1999 Tubamania Festival in Sydney, Australia. Besides, he has judged many international music competitions, such as Jeju International Tchaikovsky Competition 2018. He has performed with many orchestras, mainly in Japan and Germany, and done many recitals and guest performances. He has also held master classes and lectures across the globe. He also went on a U.S. tour in 2006, performing as a co-representative of “EULENRUNDE~”. Aside from the tour, the “EULENRUNDE~” has held many concerts, mainly in Japan. He studied Tuba with Chitate Kagawa, Harvey G. Phillips, Robert Tocci, Manfred Hoppert, and Thomas Walsh. Having left The Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, he is now a tubist at The Kyushu Symphony Orchestra. As of now, he is a part-time lecturer at Elizabeth University of Music in Hiroshima, Japan and Sapporo Otani University in Sapporo, Japan.