Nobuya Sugawa composer / arranger

Nobuya Sugawa is an internationally acclaimed saxophonist whom Japan is very much proud of. He studied saxophone at Tokyo University of Arts (formerly named Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music) with the late Yuichi Omuro. He won the highest prizes in the Wind Instrument Category in the 51st Music Competition of Japan and in the saxophone category of the 1st Japan Wind and Percussion Competition, and received the Idemitsu Music Award and the Muramatsu Award. He was featured in JT’s Musician Series, and his appearance in its TV commercials brought him overwhelming popularity. His other activities include the performance of the theme music for Sakura—a popular daily TV drama series broadcasted on NHK from April to September 2002—and other numerous appearances on TV and radio programs.

He plays roughly one-hundred concerts every year. Additionally, he has held recitals and taught master classes in more than twenty countries.

One of the most prolific recording artists of his field, he has more than thirty commercial albums on different Japanese and international labels. These albums introduce us not only his new repertoires, but also his works with world-renowned musicians in various genres, such as Ron Carter and Martin Taylor. There are many pieces written for him and many of them have been published. Along with his albums, they have revealed new musical horizons for the classical saxophone, having a considerable influence across the world.

He has performed with almost every orchestra in Japan including the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo. Outside of Japan, he has performed with the BBC Philharmonic, Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Orchestra d’Harmonie de la Garde Républicaine, and more.

Since his debut, he has actively requested many remarkable composers to write new pieces for him. Many of these works, premiered by him, have become popular internationally and have earned places amongst the important classical saxophone repertories of the 20th and 21st centuries. Some examples among many are the Fuzzy Bird Sonata and Cyber Bird Concerto by Takashi Yoshimatsu, Saxophone Concerto Esse in Anima by Akira Nishimura, Saxophone Concerto by Edward Gregson, Cinnamon Concerto by Martin Ellerby, Dance of Uzume by Piet Swerts, Concerto du Vent by Toshiyuki Honda, La lune en paradise and Paganini Lost by Jun Nagao, and BIRDS-A Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Band by Toshio Mashima.

Particularly, Yoshimatsu’s Fuzzy Bird Sonata has led him to the limelight in the international music arena. He has been recognized as “Mr. Fuzzy Bird” as well as “Mr. Sugawa.” Hailed as a musician with an outstanding style, he has received broad attention of other saxophonists across the world.

He held the role of Concert Master with the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra for almost twenty-two years, from 1989 through 2010. He received ‘Hamamatsu Art and Culture Special Award’ in 1996, and was appointed an ambassador of Hamamatsu City ‘YARAMAIKA’ in 2009.

Currently, along with the activities as a soloist, he performs as a member of Trouvère Quartet. He also serves as the resident conductor of the Yamaha Symphonic Band, and is a visiting professor at Tokyo University of Arts.