Naoki Tokuoka

Naoki Tokuoka

Born in Tottori prefecture in 1970. His family business is a bookstore with 130 years of history. He studied abroad in France in 1997 after graduating High School, from the Kunitachi High School of Music and university, master's degree in the Kunitachi College of Music. By recommendation of composer Yoshihisa Taïra, he conducted at the National Academy of Music at the Rueil Malmaison and studied composition under Francine Aubin. He was a semi-finalist at the 1999 and 2001 Besancon International Conductor Competition. He got recognition by the master Neeme Järvi when participating in the Sibelius Conductor Competition in 2005 and has been studying with Neeme and Paavo Järvi's father and son since then. In June 2007, he was invited to participate in a conducting class of the Den Haag Residentie Orchestra at the recommendation of Neeme Järvi himself. In July, he participated in a Cabrillo music festival and workshop in California, USA at the invitation of Marin Alsop. The performance during the music festival is described as "Naoki Tokuoka from Taiwan is Brahms' second symphony, he showed a wonderful personality and experience with clear and lively techniques" (Santa Cruz Metro newspaper August 1, 2007).Established in Taiwan from 2001. He formed an orchestra with the support of Chi Mei Corporation, which is known for Cremona's famous instruments, and raised it to one of the highest levels in Taiwan in a short period of time. TV broadcasts and five-volume DVDs have been released and well received, and these are still used to do promotion by China Airlines in Taiwan. Received the 2003 Tainan City Honorary Citizenship Award. He is often a guest performer at the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and the Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra. Currently, he is active as a permanent conductor of five orchestras, writing and giving lectures classes as well as composing. As a YouTuber, titled "Cheerful Maniac", he continues to analyze the historical performances which he has been listening since childhood of the greatest conductor the 20th century Wilhelm Furtwängler and doing commentary programs of classical music. He contributed to Taiwan's only classical music magazine, MUZIK. His composition is published by Da Vinci Edition. Owner of more than 20,000 CDs, 3,000 Vinyl records, and can't count how many books. Film directors of interest are Roman Polansky, Kubrick and Ken Russell. His hobby is collecting live recordings ofbroadcast and paintings by his teacher Aubin. He is the only conductor entrusted with the performance of Aubin's symphony No.2 "L'espoir".