MANILA, Philippines–The Cultural Center of the Philippines presents violinist Kazuhiro Takagi on December 10 at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater) at 7:30 pm. Assisting pianist is Josue Greg Zuniega.
Billed as “Takagi in Concert: A Violin Recital”, the program includes J.S Bach’s “Sonata No. 3 in C major”, BWV 1005, Karol Szymanowski’s “Three Myths” for violin and piano, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir d’un lieu cher, Op.42”, and Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Violin Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 75”.
Born in Osaka, Japan, Kazuhiro Takagi started violin lessons at the age of six where he studied under Takayoshi Wanami, Yuko Mori, Eduard Wulfson and Eduard Schmieder. He later left for France to study at the Conservatoire National Superieur Musique de Lyon where he graduated with the highest grades in 1994.
He furthered his training at Southern Methodist University in 1995 and Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts in 2000 via Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists organized by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan.
His major awards include a prize at the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels (1997), 3rd prize at the Geneva International Music Competition (1998), and the 1st prize as the first violinist of the Eusia String Quartet at the Fischoff National Music Competition in Indiana State, USA (2001).
He also obtained the National Arts Festival New Artist Award sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Osaka Cultural Festival Grand Prize (2005) and the Recorded Work Award, Audio Category at the 19th Music Pen Club Japan (2007).
Takagi had been a soloist of the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, Osaka Symphony Orchestra, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Century Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra and Wuerttembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen in Germany.
He served as concertmaster of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago conducted by Daniel Barenboim and a solo concertmaster of the Wuerttembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen in Germany, Kazuhiro Takagi had also been a concertmaster of the touring Tokyo Symphony Orchestra (2007-2012) as well as a solo concertmaster of the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra (2006-2013).
He is currently a member of the Nagaokakyo Chamber Ensemble in Kyoto, concertmaster of the Dallas Chamber Symphony Orchestra (USA), member of Izumi Sinfonietta Osaka, and leader of Lilis Chamber Orchestra. He also performs as a violinist of “A Hundred Birds”, a house music orchestra band, and “tokyo.panda.”, a hip-hop chamber group.
Josue Greg Zuniega graduated as Valedictorian of his batch at the Philippine High School for the Arts. He was consistently on the Chancellor’s List, earning the highest point average for the two semesters he spent at the University of the Philippines.
Zuniega pursued further studies at the Tchaikowsky Moscow State Conservatory and finished his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the Royal College Music of London, where he was presented the prestigious Tagore Gold Medal for excellence by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and was awarded first prize honors in piano concerto, German Lieder interpretation and chamber music.
Zuniega has performed in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, China, Guam, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy and has been featured soloist of the Philippine Philharmonic and the Manila Symphony Orchestras.
His noteworthy appearances at the Cultural Center of the Philippines include a sold-out Filipino Artists’ Series recital, Virtuosos, RP-Japan Friendship Concert, and Resonance and Wonder, a lecture-concert for young people. He also played the role of Narrator in Peter and the Wolf, in an outreach concert of the PPO. A music professor of St. Scholastica’s College, he holds a degree in B.S. Economics (London School of Economics) and Masters in Public Management (University of the Philippines).
For tickets, contact the CCP Box Office at 832-3704 and TicketWorld at 891-9999.
