Biography
TOSHIYUKI SHIMADA, a conductor in much demand because
of his experience and of vital service to his community where he
conducts, has just been appointed as Music Director of both
Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut and the
Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes in New York. He
continues as Music Director of Yale Symphony Orchestra of Yale
University. Since 1998, he has also served as Principal Conductor
of the Vienna Modern Masters record label in Austria. He is also
Music Director Laureate of Portland Symphony Orchestra, in
Portland, Maine, for which he served as Music Director from 1986
to 2006. Prior to his Portland engagement, he was Associate
Conductor of the Houston Symphony for six years, beginning in
1981. In addition, he has served as Artistic Adviser of Tulare
County Symphony Orchestra in California from 2007 to 2009.
His guest conducting engagements this year include appearances
with Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra in Vilnius and
Festival Cultural de Mayo in Guadalajara, Mexico, with
Orquesta Filharmonico de Jalisco. Maestro Shimada has been a
frequent guest conductor with a number of European orchestras,
including Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra in Czech Republic,
Karlovy Vařy (Karlsbad) Symphony Orchestra, Prague Chamber
Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic, NÖ Tonkünstler Orchestra in
Vienna, L’Orchestre National de Lille in France, and Royal
Scottish National Orchestra at Edinburgh Festival. He has also
guest conducted the Houston Symphony, Honolulu Symphony
Orchestra, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, San José
Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, Pacific Symphony
Orchestra, New York Chamber Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony
Orchestra, and many other US and Canadian orchestras. In 2008
Yale Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Shimada made a highly
successful Italian tour performing in Rome, Florence, Bologna
and Milan.
In addition to these activities, he has held the position of Music
Director of the Nassau Symphony Orchestra in New York, Music
Director of the Cambiata Soloists, a contemporary music
ensemble in Houston, Music Director of the Shepherd School
Symphony Orchestra at Rice University, and Music Director of
the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra in Los Angeles.
He has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Itzhak
Perlman, Andre Watts, Peter Serkin, Emanuel Ax, Yefim
Bronfman, Janos Starker, Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Nadjia
Salerno-Sonnenberg, Cho-Liang Lin, Sir James Galway, Evelyn
Glennie, Barry Tuckwell, and Doc Severinsen.
Maestro Shimada has had the good fortune to study with many
distinguished conductors of the past and the present, including
Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Herbert Blomstedt,
Hans Swarovsky, and Michael Tilson Thomas. He was a finalist
in the 1979 Herbert von Karajan conducting competition in Berlin,
and a Fellow Conductor in the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Institute, in 1983. In addition, he was named Ariel Musician of
the Year in 2003 by Ariel Records, and received the ASCAP award
in 1989. He has graduated from California State University,
Northridge, studying with David Whitwell and Lawrence
Christianson, and attended University of Music and Dramatic
Arts in Vienna, Austria.
He has also consistently become an integral and beloved member
of every community he joins, receiving the Portland Fire
Department's Merit Award, the Maine Publicity Bureau Cultural
Award, and the Italian Heritage Society Cultural Award, and
having a number of days named in his honor: Toshiyuki Shimada
Day in Houston, TX, Toshiyuki Shimada Week in Portland,
Maine, and Toshiyuki Shimada Day in the State of Maine. In May
2006 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Fine Arts
by Maine College of Arts. At Yale University, he has been selected
as the Fellow of Davenport College and a member of the
Elizabethan Club.
He records with Vienna Modern Masters label, and with
Moravian Philharmonic, and currently he has fifteen Compact
Discs. He also records for Capstone Records, Querstand-VKJK
(Germany) and Albany Records. His recording of Gregory
Hutter's Skyscrapers has been released through Naxos label.
Currently Maestro Shimada holds a teaching position at Yale
University, as Associate Professor of Conducting with Yale School
of Music and Department of Music, and lives in Connecticut,
USA, with his concert pianist wife, Eva Virsik.
Please visit Maestro Shimada's MySpace page:
www.myspace.com/toshishimada
Eva Virsik's Web page:
www.evavirsik.com
of his experience and of vital service to his community where he
conducts, has just been appointed as Music Director of both
Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut and the
Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes in New York. He
continues as Music Director of Yale Symphony Orchestra of Yale
University. Since 1998, he has also served as Principal Conductor
of the Vienna Modern Masters record label in Austria. He is also
Music Director Laureate of Portland Symphony Orchestra, in
Portland, Maine, for which he served as Music Director from 1986
to 2006. Prior to his Portland engagement, he was Associate
Conductor of the Houston Symphony for six years, beginning in
1981. In addition, he has served as Artistic Adviser of Tulare
County Symphony Orchestra in California from 2007 to 2009.
His guest conducting engagements this year include appearances
with Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra in Vilnius and
Festival Cultural de Mayo in Guadalajara, Mexico, with
Orquesta Filharmonico de Jalisco. Maestro Shimada has been a
frequent guest conductor with a number of European orchestras,
including Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra in Czech Republic,
Karlovy Vařy (Karlsbad) Symphony Orchestra, Prague Chamber
Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic, NÖ Tonkünstler Orchestra in
Vienna, L’Orchestre National de Lille in France, and Royal
Scottish National Orchestra at Edinburgh Festival. He has also
guest conducted the Houston Symphony, Honolulu Symphony
Orchestra, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, San José
Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, Pacific Symphony
Orchestra, New York Chamber Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony
Orchestra, and many other US and Canadian orchestras. In 2008
Yale Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Shimada made a highly
successful Italian tour performing in Rome, Florence, Bologna
and Milan.
In addition to these activities, he has held the position of Music
Director of the Nassau Symphony Orchestra in New York, Music
Director of the Cambiata Soloists, a contemporary music
ensemble in Houston, Music Director of the Shepherd School
Symphony Orchestra at Rice University, and Music Director of
the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra in Los Angeles.
He has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Itzhak
Perlman, Andre Watts, Peter Serkin, Emanuel Ax, Yefim
Bronfman, Janos Starker, Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Nadjia
Salerno-Sonnenberg, Cho-Liang Lin, Sir James Galway, Evelyn
Glennie, Barry Tuckwell, and Doc Severinsen.
Maestro Shimada has had the good fortune to study with many
distinguished conductors of the past and the present, including
Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Herbert Blomstedt,
Hans Swarovsky, and Michael Tilson Thomas. He was a finalist
in the 1979 Herbert von Karajan conducting competition in Berlin,
and a Fellow Conductor in the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Institute, in 1983. In addition, he was named Ariel Musician of
the Year in 2003 by Ariel Records, and received the ASCAP award
in 1989. He has graduated from California State University,
Northridge, studying with David Whitwell and Lawrence
Christianson, and attended University of Music and Dramatic
Arts in Vienna, Austria.
He has also consistently become an integral and beloved member
of every community he joins, receiving the Portland Fire
Department's Merit Award, the Maine Publicity Bureau Cultural
Award, and the Italian Heritage Society Cultural Award, and
having a number of days named in his honor: Toshiyuki Shimada
Day in Houston, TX, Toshiyuki Shimada Week in Portland,
Maine, and Toshiyuki Shimada Day in the State of Maine. In May
2006 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Fine Arts
by Maine College of Arts. At Yale University, he has been selected
as the Fellow of Davenport College and a member of the
Elizabethan Club.
He records with Vienna Modern Masters label, and with
Moravian Philharmonic, and currently he has fifteen Compact
Discs. He also records for Capstone Records, Querstand-VKJK
(Germany) and Albany Records. His recording of Gregory
Hutter's Skyscrapers has been released through Naxos label.
Currently Maestro Shimada holds a teaching position at Yale
University, as Associate Professor of Conducting with Yale School
of Music and Department of Music, and lives in Connecticut,
USA, with his concert pianist wife, Eva Virsik.
Please visit Maestro Shimada's MySpace page:
www.myspace.com/toshishimada
Eva Virsik's Web page:
www.evavirsik.com
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