Passionate about the arts from a young age, Michiyoshi Inoue began piano lessons very early and studied ballet for ten years before deciding, at the age of fifteen, to pursue a career as a conductor. On entering the renowned Toho Gakuen School of Music, he studied under the late Hideo Saito, one of the countryґs most prominent music scholars and mentor to conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Hiroshi Wakasugi and Kazuyoshi Akiyama.

Mr. Inoueґs professional career began in 1970 when he was named Associate Conductor to the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. A year later, the critical acclaim following his first prize at the Guido Cantelli Conducting Competition in Milan brought him to the attention of the international music scene, and he has been a familiar face on podiums all over the world ever since.

From 1977 to 1982 Michiyoshi Inoue was Principal Guest Conductor with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. A year after leaving New Zealand, he was appointed Music Director of Tokyoґs New Japan Philharmonic, where he remained until 1988. It was during these years that he made a name for himself within the genre of opera, his many successful productions including the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy as well as Pucciniґs Madame Butterfly and Mascagniґs Iris. Michiyoshi Inoue was the Music Director of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra between 1990 and the spring of 1998, leading them in May 1997 on a highly successful tour of Europe including much acclaimed performances at the Prague Spring Festival.

Invited to conduct the most prestigious orchestras all over the world, Mr Inoue has collaborated in Germany with the orchestras of Berlin (RIAS), Hamburg (NDR), Stuttgart (SDR), Baden Baden (SWDR), Cologne (Gьrzenich), and the Dresden Philharmonic. Elsewhere in Europe, he has performed with ensembles including Orchestre National de France, Opera de Marseille, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Dublin, Royal Philharmonic Flanders Orchestra, La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Gulbenkian (Portugal), Orquestra Sinfonica de RTVE (Madrid), Leningrad Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Hungary State Symphony Orchestra.

His CD recordings of Mahlerґs 4th, 5th and 6th symphonies with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra received high praise. At the head of the New Japan Philharmonic he has begun a series of concerts entitled CONCERT OPERA, with productions including Mascagniґs “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Leoncavalloґs “Pagliacci” in September in 2000; Korngoldґs “Die tote Stadt” in 2001, and with R. Straussґ “Ariadne auf Naxos” in 2002.

He has been conducting Shostakovich Symphonies intensively in Russia, Rumania and Japan in 2006/07 and 2007/08 seasons, including the realisation of a complete Shostakovich Symphonic Cycle in Tokyo from November to December in 2007 with five Russian and Japanese orchestras including the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the New Japan Philharmonic.

In January 2007, he was engaged as Artistic Adviser of Ishikawa Ongakudo and as Music Director of Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, with which he very successfully toured Europe in summer 2008.