KEITARO HARADA

Conductor Keitaro Harada continues to be recognized at the highest levels for his artistic abilities and passion for musical excellence. As a recipient of The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award (2014 and 2015), Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview (2013), the Seiji Ozawa Conducting Fellowship at Tanglewood Music Festival, a student of Lorin Maazel at Castleton Festival and Fabio Luisi at Pacific Music Festival, Harada’s credentials are exemplary.

Newly appointed Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra, Harada is also Associate Conductor of the Arizona Opera and Associate Conductor of the Richmond Symphony. Harada begins his appointment with the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra in the fall of 2015. For Arizona Opera, he leads a production of La fille du régiment in spring of 2015 and of Carmen in 2016.

The 2014-15 season held Harada’s conducting debut in Japan with the New Japan Philharmonic in a sold out performance. He also conducted performances with Tucson Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Sierra Vista Symphony, Orquesta Filarmónica de Sonora and numerous performances with Richmond Symphony.

In 2013, Harada was selected by the League of American Orchestras as one of only six conductors for the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, a prestigious showcase that occurs biennially in an effort to promote gifted, emerging conductors to orchestra industry leaders. In 2012, Harada was a semi-finalist at the 9th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors in Poland. In 2011, Harada was one of ten semi-finalists invited by Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony to participate in the First Chicago Symphony Orchestra Solti International Conducting Competition and he made his professional opera conducting debut with North Carolina Opera.

Early in his career, Harada served as Music Director of the Phoenix Youth Symphony. During his tenure, he elevated the organization’s profile, expanded their season; added challenging repertoire, and took the symphony on a European performanc