Announcement of the winners of the 33rd (2025) Akio Watanabe Music Foundation Music Award and Special Award
33rd (2025) Watanabe Akio Music Foundation Music Award and Special Award Recipient
◆Music Award: Daichi Deguchi
◆Special Award: Toshio Miyazawa
◆Music Award: Daichi Deguchi
■Biography He was the first Japanese to win the conducting category at the 17th Khachaturian International Competition. He also won the top prize and orchestra prize at the Koussevitzky International Conducting Competition.
Born in Toyonaka City, Osaka Prefecture. Studied at the Faculty of Law at Kwansei Gakuin University and the Department of Conducting at Tokyo College of Music, and completed a Master's degree in Conducting at Hanns Eisler University of Music Berlin in 2023. After conducting with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the National Symphony Orchestra of Armenia, he will make his Japanese debut at the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra's regular concert in July 2022. He will also serve as Assistant Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège (2024/5 season).
He has been trained by Junichi Hirokami, C. Ewald, P. Järvi, D. Runnicles, Michiyoshi Inoue, Ryusuke Numajiri, and Tatsuya Shimono, and served as assistant to V. Jurowski at the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.
[Reason for award]
Daichi Deguchi was born in 1989. In 2021, he became the first Japanese to win the conducting category at the 17th International Khachaturian Competition, and in the same year won the top prize and the Special Orchestra Award at the Koussevitzky International Conducting Competition. It is noteworthy that, among young conductors, he has catapulted himself into the spotlight after winning an international competition and has rapidly expanded his range of activities. Specializing in interpretations of Khachaturian's works, he is based in Berlin, Germany, and Tokyo. Since his Japanese debut at the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra's regular concert in 2022, he has been actively expanding his range of activities in Japan.
In this way, Mr. Deguchi has been active internationally since the beginning of his career, steadily progressing towards becoming a truly "international conductor." We have high hopes that he will continue to mature as one of Japan's leading conductors, and have therefore awarded him the Watanabe Akio Music Foundation Music Award.
◆Special Award: Toshio Miyazawa
Biography Born in Taipei in 1943. Upon graduating from Musashino Academia Musicae in 1966, he joined the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra and served as principal double bassist. He presided over the Wakayama Music Foundation and contributed to the promotion of local culture. In 1986, he became Secretary General of the Osaka Philharmonic and worked to rebuild the orchestra's management. From 2004, he led the rebuilding of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, developing it into what has come to be called "Hokkaido's treasure." He also held key positions in the Japan Federation of Musicians and the National Association of Public Cultural Facilities, and promoted the development of young talent and the revitalization of local culture through the planning and management of regional music festivals. He served as Director of the Ina Cultural Hall from 2014 and as Executive Director of the Mount Fuji Shizuoka Symphony Orchestra from 2019, leading the orchestra to become a full member of the Association of Japanese Symphony Orchestras in 2024. He passed away in January 2025 at the age of 81.
[Reason for award]
Toshio Miyazawa, who sadly passed away in January 2025, served as the principal double bassist of the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra before becoming its Secretary General in 1986 to help rebuild the orchestra. He continued to utilize his experience in orchestral performance and management to become Secretary General of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra in 2004, where he became the first Japanese orchestra to become a public interest incorporated foundation and led the orchestra's overseas performances. He also became Managing Director of the Shizuoka Symphony Orchestra in 2018, where he made a significant contribution to the orchestra's merger with the Hamamatsu Philharmonic Orchestra and its transformation into a public interest incorporated foundation (establishing the Mount Fuji Shizuoka Symphony Orchestra, a public interest incorporated foundation).
He also utilized his presence as an orchestral player, serving as Secretary General of the Japan Federation of Musicians and as director of various music festivals and public halls, and made significant contributions to the development of Japan's orchestral world from various positions over many years. His achievements make him a worthy recipient of the Watanabe Akio Music Foundation Special Award. We offer our deepest condolences and pray for the repose of his soul.
List of Watanabe Akeo Music Fund Awardees
1st (1993) Music Award: Kazushi Ono Special Award: Sennosuke Enmei
2nd (1994) Music Award: Junichi Hirokami Special Award: Chiaki Murakawa
3rd (1995) Music Award: No recipients Special Award: Takashi Ogawa, Seizo Suzuki, Jun Tanaka
4th (1996) Music Award: Ken Takaseki Special Award: No recipient
5th (1997) Music Award: No winner Special Award: Keizo Saji
6th (1998) Music Award: Kim Hong-jae Special Award: Ishimaru Hiroshi
7th (1999) Music Award: Ryusuke Numajiri Special Award: Chiyoshige Matsubara
8th (2000) Music Award: Naoto Otomo Special Award: Minoru Nagaoka, Toshiya Eto
9th (2001) Music Award: No recipients Special Award: No recipients
10th (2002) Music Award: Tatsuya Shimono, Yukio Fujioka Special Award: Shoji Uehara
11th (2003) Music Award: Yutaka Sado Special Award: Masaharu Watanabe, Naozumi Yamamoto
12th (2004) Music Award: Tetsuro Saka Special Award: Akira Miyoshi
13th (2005) Music Award: Norichika Iimori Special Award: Tsuzo Kusakari
14th (2006) Music Award: No winners Special Award: Shigeto Kanayama, Hiroshi Okawauchi
15th (2007) Music Award: Toshiyuki Ueoka Special Award: Shoji Onodera, Japan Philharmonic Kyushu Performance Liaison Committee (Group)
16th (2008) Music Award: No winner Special Award: Hiroyuki Iwaki
17th (2009) Music Award: No winners Special Award: Jean Fournet, Affinis Cultural Foundation
18th (2010) Music Award: No winners Special Award: Hiroshi Wakasugi, Museum of Modern Japanese Music
19th (2011) Music Award: No recipients Special Award: Seiji Ozawa Special Support: Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra
20th (2012) Music Award: Kazuki Yamada Special Award: Yasuo Nakafuji
21st (2013) Music Award: No winner Special Award: Nagata Ho
22nd (2014) Music Award: No winner Special Award: Kodama Koji
23rd (2015) Music Award: Kentaro Kawase Special Award: Hubert Soudant, Kazuyoshi Akiyama
24th (2016) Music Award: No recipients Special Award: Alexander Lazarev, Shinichiro Ikebe, Michiyoshi Inoue
25th (2017) Music Award: No winners Special Award: Yuzo Toyama, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi
26th (2018) Music Award: No recipients Special Award: Eliahu Inbal
27th (2019) Music Award: No winners Special Award: Honna Tetsuji, Yamada Masayuki
28th (2020) Music Award: Nodoka Okisawa Special Award: Yasuhisa Toyoda
29th (2021) Music Award: Masato Suzuki and Keitaro Harada Special Award: No recipients
30th (2022) Music Award: Gen Ota Special Award: Taijiro Iimori
31st (2023) Music Award: No recipients Special Award: Masaki Tanaka
32nd (2024) Music Award: No winner Special Award: Nobuo Nishiyama
33rd (2025) Music Award: Daichi Deguchi Special Award: Toshio Miyazawa
