Maestro Shimada has been a frequent guest conductor with a number of international orchestras, including the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra in Vilnius; the Orquesta Filharmónico de Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico; the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra; the Karlovy Vařy (Karlsbad) Symphony Orchestra; the Prague Chamber Orchestra; the Slovak Philharmonic; NÖ Tonkünstler Orchestra in Vienna; L’Orchestre National de Lille in France; and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra at the Edinburgh Festival. He has also guest conducted the Houston Symphony, the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, the San José Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, the New York Chamber Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and many other US and Canadian orchestras. In May and June, 2010, the Yale Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Shimada made a highly successful tour to the Republic of Turkey, performing in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir; in 2008 they toured in Italy, performing in Rome, Florence, Bologna and Milan. This past spring Maestro Shimada was invited to conduct the United States Coast Guard Band following guest conductor, Leonard Slatkin.
In addition to these activities he has held the position of Artistic Adviser of the Tulare County Symphony Orchestra in California; Music Director of the Nassau Symphony Orchestra in New York; Music Director of the Cambiata Soloists, a contemporary music ensemble in Houston; Music Director of the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra at Rice University; and Music Director of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra in Los Angeles.
He has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Andre Watts, Peter Serkin, Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Idil Biret, Janos Starker, Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Nadjia Salerno-Sonnenberg, Cho-Liang Lin, Sir James Galway, Evelyn Glennie, Barry Tuckwell, and Doc Severinsen.
Maestro Shimada has had the good fortune to study with many distinguished conductors of the past and the present, including Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Herbert Blomstedt, Hans Swarovsky, and Michael Tilson Thomas. He was a finalist in the 1979 Herbert von Karajan conducting competition in Berlin, and a Fellow Conductor in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, in 1983. In addition, he was named Ariel Musician of the Year in 2003 by Ariel Records, and received the ASCAP award in 1989.
Consistently recognized as an integral and beloved member of every community he joins, Maestro Shimada has received the Portland Fire Department's Merit Award, the Maine Publicity Bureau Cultural Award, and the Italian Heritage Society Cultural Award. He has had a number of holidays named in his honor: Toshiyuki Shimada Day in Houston, Texas; Toshiyuki Shimada Week in Portland, Maine; and Toshiyuki Shimada Day in the State of Maine. In May 2006 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Fine Arts by the Maine College of Arts. At Yale University he has been selected as a Fellow of Davenport College and a member of the Elizabethan Club.
He records with the Vienna Modern Masters label, and with the Moravian Philharmonic, and currently has fifteen Compact Discs. He also records for Capstone Records, Querstand-VKJK (Germany) and Albany Records. His recording of Gregory Hutter's Skyscrapers has been released through the Naxos label.
Maestro Shimada holds a teaching position at Yale University, as Associate Professor of Conducting with Yale School of Music and Department of Music. He was co-founder of the Leipzig Music Festival Conducting Course, in Germany. He now resides in Connecticut with his wife, concert pianist Eva Virsik. |
