Seiji Okamoto Profile
in English
Seiji Okamoto won First Prize and the Audience Award at the 19th International J. S. BachCompetition in Leipzig, becoming the first Asian winner in the violin category. He has received numerous prizes at major international competitions, including Second Prize at the 15th International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poznań, was a Laureate of the 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels, and won First Prize at the 2021 ARD International Music Competition in Munich.
He graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts and completed his studies at Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin and Kronberg Academy.
Currently based in Germany, Okamoto is active as a concerto soloist and chamber musician.He is also dedicated to nurturing the next generation of musicians, serving as a part-time lecturer at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig and as an assistant in Prof. Antje Weithaas’s class at Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin.
He is a core member and concertmaster of the Japan National Orchestra, produced by Kyohei Sorita. In May 2025, he won the audition for the concertmaster position of Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and is currently in a trial period. As a soloist, he has performed with numerous orchestras in Japan and abroad, including Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (BRSO), Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Wiener Kammerorchester, St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. In recent seasons, he appeared with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Myung-Whun Chung in subscription concerts, leaving a vivid impression on audiences with his unwavering technique and rich musicality.
In 2022, he received a commendation from the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs of Japan and was awarded the 31st Idemitsu Music Award. Okamoto currently plays a Matteo Goffriller violin from 1702, on generous loan from the NPO Yellow Angel, and a Ferdinando Gagliano violin from 1777, on generous loan from the Nippon Violin Society. His CD frei aber einsam was released by NOVA Record.
Seiji Okamoto (Violin) – Concerto Repertoires (July. 2023)
-works for violin and orchestra
J.S.Bach: Concerto No.1 in a minor BWV1041
J.S.Bach: Concerto No.2 in E major BWV1042
J.S.Bach: Concerto for 2 violins in d minor (Double Concerto) BWV1043
Brahms: Concerto in D major Op.77
Mendelssohn: Concerto in d minor
Mendelssohn: Concerto in e minor Op.64
Mozart: Concerto No.1 in B-flat major KV207
Mozart: Concerto No.5 in A major KV219
Mozart: Adagio in E major KV261
Mozart: Rondo in C major KV373
R.Schumann: Concerto in d minor WoO 23
Sibelius: Concerto in d minor Op.47
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Vivaldi: Concerto for 4 violins in b minor
J.S.Bach: Concerto in d minor BWV1052R (reconstructed from Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings in d minor)
Bartok: Concerto No.1 (posthume)
Bartok: Concerto No.2 Sz.112
Bartok: Rhapsodie No.1 in G
Beethoven: Concerto in D major Op.61
Beethoven: Romance No.2 in F major Op.50
Berg: Concerto (“To the memory of an angel”)
Brahms: Concerto for violin and cello (double concerto) in a minor Op.102
Bruch: Concerto No.1 in g minor Op.26
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy Op.46
Chausson: “Poeme” Op.25
Haydn: Concerto No.1 in C major
Hartmann: Concerto funebre
Hindemith: Concerto (1939)
Mozart: Concerto No.3 in G major KV216
Mozart: Concerto No.4 in D major KV218
Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola in E-flat major KV364
Prokofiev: Concerto No.2 in g minor Op.63
Ravel: Tzigane
Saint=Saens: Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso Op.28
R.Schumann: Phantasie Op.131
Tchaikovsky: Concerto in D major Op.35
Tchaikovsky: Valse-Scherzo Op.34 (original version)
Wieniawski: Polonaise de Concert (Polonaise brillante No.1 in D major Op.4
Wieniawski: Legende in g minor Op.17
Barber: Concerto Op.14
Dvorak: Concerto in a minor Op.53
Elgar: Concerto in b minor Op.61
Glière: Concerto (Concerto Allegro) in g minor Op.100 (1956)
K.Hakola: “Fidl” Op.99 (2019)
Khachaturian: Concerto in d minor Op.46
Korngold: Concerto in D major Op.35
Paganini: Concerto No.4 in d minor
Saint=Saëns: Concerto No.3 in b minor Op.61
Shostakovich: Concerto No.1 in a minor Op.77 (Op.99)
Stravinsky: Concerto (1931)
Wieniawski: Concerto No.2 in d minor Op.22
Britten: Concerto (1939)
Bruch: Serenade in A minor Op.75
Glazunov: Concerto in a minor Op.82
Ligeti: Concerto (1992)
Nielsen: Concerto Op.33
Prokofiev: Concerto No.1 in D major Op.19
Schönberg: Concerto (1936)
Shostakovich: Concerto No.2 in c-sharp minor Op.129
Szymanowski: Concerto No.1 Op.35
Walton: Concerto (1939)
Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending