Ken TAKASEKI was born in Tokyo in 1955. He started to study the piano and violin early in his childhood. He won the Karajan Competition in Japan in 1977 while he was still a student at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. After graduating from the School the next year, he left Japan to study at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Academy (Karajan Foundation) and worked as an assistant to Herbert von Karajan till 1985. In the summer of 1981, he attended the Tanglewood Festival and studied under Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. In the same year, he made his debut in Europe with the Bergen Symphony Orchestra in Norway. In 1983, he won the second prize at the Nicolai Malco Competition for Young Conductors and in 1984, he drew attention when he won the Hans Swarowsky Competition. In January the next year, he made his debut in Japan with the Japan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra at its subscription concert. In 1991, he conducted the NHK Symphony Orchestra at its subscription concert and received outstanding critical acclaim. In 1994, he toured around Europe with the Gunma Symphony Orchestra with great success performing in various places and on such occasions as Prague Spring International Music Festival and Festival of Vienna. Besides being invited to conduct many orchestras in Japan, he has performed with Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Bergen Symphony Orchestra, Denmark National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutche Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Klangforum Wien, Itzhak Perlman, Gyorgy Pauk, and Janos Starker respectively. In 1999, he was invited by Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and in 2000 by WDR Symphonie Orchester Koln. Both performances were highly praised. From 1986 to 1990, he was Music Director / Principal Conductor for the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra; from 1994 to 2000, Conductor for the New Japan Philharmonic; from 1997 to 2003, Principal Conductor for the Century Orchestra Osaka; from January 1993 to present, Music Director for the Gunma Symphony Orchestra; and from April 2003 to present, Conductor for the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra. In June 1996, he won Watanabe Akeo Foundation Music Award.