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| Oboe |
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| Ken-ichi Furube |
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Ken-ichi Furube, Oboe |
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Born in Osaka, Japan, Ken-ichi Furube began to study the oboe at the age
of fifteen. In 1991, just twenty-two years old and still a student at the
Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, Mr. Furube was appointed Principal
Oboe with the New Japan Philharmonic, one of Japan’s leading orchestras.
From 1995 to 1996, sponsored by the Affinis Arts Foundation, Mr. Furube
was granted a leave-of-absence from the orchestra to study at the Hochschule
für Musik in Munich.
In addition to his duties as Principal Oboe of the New Japan Philharmonic, Mr. Furube is also active as a member of the Euros Ensemble, Izumi Sinfonietta in Osaka, and the Japan Chamber Orchestra. Among his solo engagements, notable performances have included the concertos of Bach, Mozart, R. Strauss, Olivier Messiaen (the Japanese premiere), Toru Takemitsu and Alfred Schnittke with the New Japan Philharmonic and the Japan Chamber Orchestra.
Ken-ichi Furube combines his orchestral work with many chamber music performances and has earned much praise and respect from his partners, who have included Mstislav Rostropovich, Friedrich Gulda, Sylvia McNair, Tabea Zimmermann, the late Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Szymon Goldberg, Leon Fleisher, and Takashi Asahina. Mr. Furube also commands the trust of the world’s most esteemed conductors and since performing as a chamber musician in the 2000 Miyazaki Festival (founded by Isaac Stern) he has been a member of the prestigious Miyazaki Festival Orchestra since its establishment by the current artistic director Charles Dutoit in 2002. At the invitation of Seiji Ozawa, he plays regularly in the Saito Kinen Orchestra and he was also asked to join the Nagano Winter Orchestra for the opening events of the Winter Olympics in 1998.
Recent highlights include a tour of Japan tour I Solisti Italiani, a duo recital tour in Japan with German harpsichordist Christine Schorscheim, and appearances on NHK Television with his wind quintet.
A superlative technique and profound musicality allow Mr. Furube to explore and perform a wide and varied repertoire, ranging from baroque to contemporary. As the featured soloist in the five-concert Haseko Classics Series at Casals Hall in Tokyo, his innovative programs included unaccompanied pieces, works with piano, concerti and a diverse selection of works for chamber ensembles.
Ken-ichi Furube has released various CDs: his 1999 solo debut recording
Dolce featuring works by Saint-Saëns, Hindemith and Schumann was followed
a year later by the Marcello and Albinoni Oboe Concerti, performed with
I Solisti Italiani. His most recent release, Daydream, in collaboration
with guitarist Daisuke Suzuki, won much critical praise.
In 2000, Mr. Furube became the first oboist ever to have been awarded the 2000 Idemitsu Music Prize.
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New Japan Philharmonic |
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