Takayoshi Wanami

Japanese classical violinist, born in Tokyo in 1945.

He began to play the violin at the age of four and went on to study with Kichinosuke Tsuji,Saburo Sumi and Toshiya Eto. Later, he continued his studies in Europe under Joseph Szigeti, David Oistrakh, Sergio Lorenzi,Riccardo Brengola and Sandor Vegh.profile image

Wanami made his orchestral debut in Tokyo in 1963 with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and the following year, toured the USA as soloist of the Toho Conservatory String Orchestra. He was awarded prizes in the Long-Thibaud International Competition in Paris in 1965, the Carl Flesch International Competition in London in 1970 and received the Ysaye Medal from the Ysaye Foundation in Brussels.

Wanami has performed with many renowned orchestras such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Philharmonia, City of Birmingham Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Boston Pops, Festival Strings Lucerne, Zurich Chamber, Slovak Chamber, London Mozart Players and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, as well as with all the major orchestras in Japan. Conductors with whom he has collaborated include Rudolf Barshai, Gary Bertini, Harry Blech,Raphael Fruhbeck de Burgos, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur,Tadaaki Otaka and Seiji Ozawa.