Osaka Symphony Orchestra（OSO）, was originally founded as “Osaka Symphoniker” in 1980, and invited KOIZUMI Hiroshi as the initial Music Director and Permanent Conductor. Upon the launch of the orchestra, SHIKISHIMA Hiroko, our Honorary Founding President, raised the motto “Play music that satisfies both the audience and the musicians alike!” Since then, the orchestraʼs performance, which always enthusiastically has moved the audience, has been acclaimed as “exclamation from the soul” and “sound of passion”.
In January 1992, we invited Thomas SANDERLING as our next Music Director and Permanent Conductor, with whom we were able to lay solid foundation as a professional permanent orchestra. In June 1996, we held our first concert in Tokyo （at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre）, which was to become the beginning of our non-regular series in the capital city of Japan. In January 2001, we renamed ourselves as “The Orchestra Osaka Symphoniker”, and invited SOGA Daisuke as our third Music Director and Permanent Conductor. In December 2002 we made our first international tour to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Romania-Japan relationship, followed by a visit to Hanoi to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic relations. In September 2004, OHYAMA Heiichiro assumed the position of Music Adviser and Principal Conductor.
In April 2006, HIGUCHI Takeo, current Executive Advisor of Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd. became the Chairman of the Board of OSO. He handed over this position to YOSHII Keiichi, current Chairman, CEO of Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd. in October 2020. In April 2008, KODAMA Hiroshi took over the role of our 4th Music Director and Principal Conductor, whose activity and performance won considerable acclaim from various sides. In April 2010, we renamed ourselves again as “Osaka Symphony Orchestra”. In October 2015, we were chosen as the host orchestra of “Asia Orchestra Week”, a series of concerts within ACA National Arts Festival, run by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and played in Tokyo （at the Concert Hall of Tokyo Opera City） and in Kitakami-city, Iwate-prefecture.
TOYAMA Yuzo, who had been our Music Adviser, became our Honorary Conductor in April 2020. And in April 2022, 3 conductors assumed the positions of OSO. YAMASHITA Kazufumi as the Permanent Conductor, SHIBATA Maiku as the Music Partner and TAKAHASHI Naoshi as the Principal Guest Conductor. OSO is now expected to make further progress under their directions.
