Since 1966, Min-On has sponsored music competitions with the aim of discovering and raising young musicians of outstanding talent. For the Tokyo International Music Competition for Conducting 2006, 117 musicians from 26 countries had submitted required materials by the May deadline.
A review of submitted documents and videos produced a field of eight contestants from four countries for the first preliminary round. The field was further reduced to six conductors from four countries for the second preliminary round. Finally, four outstanding talents from four countries faced off in the finals on October 29. The finals were viewed by more than 1,200 spectators, and became a focus of considerable interest and discussion.

The results were as follows: With first place not awarded, Kentaro Kawase of Japan took top honors with second place. In March 2007, Mr. Kawase will perform a debut concerts at Tokyo and Hyogo.

Born in 1984, Mr. Kawase is presently a senior at the Tokyo College of Music, and is majoring in conducting. During an interview following the competition, he remarked, “Three years ago, I went to every event, starting with the preliminaries all the while hoping that someday I would stand in this place.”
For the upcoming concerts, in Tokyo Mr. Kawase will perform with the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra, and in Hyogo he will perform with the Century Orchestra Osaka. He will be joined by soloist Hiroshi Kigawa, also of the Tokyo College of Music, on the French horn. We hope you will join us this spring in celebrating the debut of this magnificent young conductor who has so wholeheartedly and passionately dedicated himself to achieving his dreams.

Min-On  http://www.min-on.org/