Kazushi Ono renewed in Tokyo

Kazushi Ono has been renewed as Artistic Director of Opera at New National Theatre Tokyo until 2029/30. He was appointed in 2018 and his contract extended in 2020, making his tenure the longest in the theatre's history.

Ono is committed to expanding the Japanese opera repertoire and has commissioned and conducted the world premiere of Akira Nishimura's Asters (2019), nominated for International Opera Award, Dai Fujikura's A Dream of Armageddon (2020) and Keiichiro Shibuya's Android opera Super Angels (2021). The coming NNTT season will include the world premiere of Toshio Hosokawa's Natasha, directed by Christian Räth.

He has also programmed classics including La Sonnambula, Die Zauberflöte, Der fliegende Holländer, Carmen, Madama Butterfly and Il Barbiere di Siviglia. He conducted Mariusz Treliński's Boris Godunov (2022) and Simon Boccanegra (2023), with sets by Anish Kapoor and is currently conducting David McVicar's production of Tristan und Isolde.

Ono also serves as Music Director of both Brussels Philharmonic and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.