Conductor CHOSEI KOMATSU is currently in his eighth season as Artistic Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica and, after several seasons as Music Director of Japan’s Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra, continues as its Conductor Laureate.

Chosei Komatsu previously held the posts of Principal Conductor of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and Japan Shinsei Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Takefu International Music Festival, Music Director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and Canadian Chamber Ensemble, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Lviv State Opera and Ballet. He also served as Associate Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Exxon/Arts Endowment Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Chosei Komatsu has conducted some of the finest orchestras, including L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Germany’s Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester and Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bolshoi Opera Theater Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Kiev National Philharmonic Orchestra, Kiev National Opera, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Compañia Lirica Nacional de Costa Rica, Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México and Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela.

In 2005, Chosei Komatsu led Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica on tour in Japan, in celebration of the 70^th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between those two countries. As part of the Japanese government’s official cultural outreach program, the Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra was selected to tour China with Mr. Komatsu in July-August, 2007.

Among the many recordings to Chosei Komatsu’s credit are his two most recent CDs with Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, released in 2006 on Sony Classical. His 2004 recording of Akira Senju’s Piano Concerto Shukumei, with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and Kentaro Haneda, remains the best-selling classical CD in the history of Japan. His gala concert with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, baritone Renato Bruson and soprano Stefania Bonfadelli was released on DVD and CD in 2003. Mr. Komatsu has also recorded for the Columbia, BMG-Victor, EMI and CBC labels, with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Chamber Ensemble and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.

A native of Japan, Chosei Komatsu earned a Bachelor of Literature degree in aesthetics from Tokyo University and a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the Eastman School of Music. He was awarded the Leonard Bernstein Conducting Fellowship from Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein Festival and the Aspen Festival Conducting Fellowship in the United States. Mr. Komatsu’s primary conducting teachers have been David Zinman, David Effron, Donald Neuen and Eiicho Ito, and further studies were undertaken with Kurt Masur, Max Rudolf and Leonard Bernstein.