Shunsuke Matsuo graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris with the First Prize, awarded by a unanimous vote of the jury.

In 2005, he released his first album, “Varié 1,” which focused on early and contemporary music, and gave his debut recital at Toppan Hall in Tokyo. His international career has since expanded to include invitations from music festivals across Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Among these, his engagements at the HAKUJU Guitar Festa, the Belgrade International Guitar Art Festival, the Sarajevo Winter Festival, and a notable concert in Zagreb, Croatia, attended by the nation’s then-President, are particularly noteworthy. He has also appeared in prominent concert series such as Tokyo Opera City’s “Bach to Contemporary,” the Spring Festival in Tokyo, and The Symphony Hall’s “Future Masters Baton Relay Concert” series. He has performed with orchestras including the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra, and continues to pursue a versatile career as a soloist and chamber musician, engaging in activities that range from collaborations with traditional Japanese musicians to premiering new compositions.

His 2016 recital, “Homage to Toru Takemitsu,” commemorating the 20th anniversary of the composer’s death, was broadcast on the NHK-FM program “Gendai no Ongaku” (Music of Our Time). In addition to his performing career, he is a prolific arranger, with numerous transcriptions of works by Bach and others. In 2019, he garnered high praise for the first-ever performance of Schubert’s complete Schwanengesang with guitar accompaniment. He is a registered artist for the Japan Foundation for Regional Art-Activities’ “Public Hall Music Revitalization Support Project.”

He studied guitar with Nobuo Watanabe, Shin-ichi Fukuda, Alberto Ponce, Carel Harms, and Olivier Chassain; early music with Éric Bellocq; and chamber music with László Hadady and Haruko Ueda.

His discography includes “Varié 4: Ponce Guitar Works” (2008); “Johann Sebastian Bach” (2013), featuring his own arrangements of Bach’s lute works; “Triaela: Roland Dyens Collection” (2015); and “Equinox: Hommage à Toru Takemitsu” (2016). All of these albums were selected as an “Specially Selected Disc” by Record Geijutsu magazine. More recently, he released albums of Viennese music, “Biedermeier” and “The Matiegka Trio.” His latest album, “Wiener Nachklänge -Giuliani & Mertz,” was chosen as a “Recommended Disc” by Record Geijutsu Online.

Shunsuke Matsuo Official Website: https://shunsukematsuo.com