Junichiro Murakami

Junichiro Murakami (viola) studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo with Mazumi Tanamura until 2000. Since 1999 he has performed as a guest principal violist in renowned orchestras and chamber music ensembles such as the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Ensemble, and others. From 2004 he studied on a scholarship from the Japanese government at the Conservatorio di Musica Luigi Cherubini in Florence with Augusto Vismara.

Junichiro Murakami was the ¬first prizewinner at the Tokyo Chamber Music Competition (1998) and at the International Competition for Chamber Music Ensembles “Premio Trio di Trieste” (2005), where the President of Italy awarded him the gold medal. In 2008 he won ¬first prize at the Premio Vittorio Gui International Chamber Music Competition in Florence. This was followed by numerous appearances at music festivals in Europe, Asia, and North America. From 2011 to 2021, Murakami was solo violist with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne.

Photography: private archive Junichiro Murakami