is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese composer and conductor. A native of Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, he was a pupil of Kan'ichi Shimofusa; he studied conducting with Kurt Wöss

Kurt Wöss

Kurt Wöss was an Austrian conductor and musicologist.Wöss was principal conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra from 1951 to 1954. From 1956 to 1959 he was chief conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra .-References:...

 and Wilhelm Loibner, and like them later became a conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra

NHK Symphony Orchestra

The in Tokyo, Japan began as the New Symphony Orchestra on October 5, 1926 and was the country's first professional symphony orchestra. Later, it changed its name to Japan Symphony Orchestra and in 1951, after receiving financial support from NHK, it took its current name...

. As a conductor he has served with numerous orchestras throughout Japan; as a composer his prime influences are Bela Bartok

Béla Bartók

Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...

 and Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....

. His best-known work is a Rhapsody for Orchestra based on Japanese folk songs.

Toyama won the Suntory Music Award

Suntory Music Award

The , previously known as the , designed to promote Western music in Japan, has been given by the Suntory Music Foundation since their establishment in 1969. The award is presented annually to individuals or groups for the greatest achievement in the development of Western or contemporary music in...

in 1982.

Reference

• Biography at Naxos.com