Satoshi Kobayashi

Clarinetist, arranger, composer

Born in Kokura Ward, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, he moved to his parents' hometown of Shimane Prefecture, where he began studying the violin. However, his father's job transfer meant a temporary departure from music, and he relocated to Yokohama. In his upper grades of elementary school, he suddenly became fascinated with classical music, becoming enthralled by the performances of Karl Böhm and the Vienna Philharmonic, who were visiting Japan at the time. He discovered the clarinet in the brass band at junior high school and devoted himself to brass bands throughout junior high and high school. In high school, he served as a student conductor, conducting regular concerts and competitions, where he gained experience with arranging scores. He then majored in clarinet at Tokyo University of the Arts, and after graduating, he became a freelance clarinetist, primarily with orchestras in Tokyo, as well as performing as a soloist, in chamber music, for studio recordings, and with musical orchestras.
He served as concertmaster of the Tokyo Clarinet Philharmonic for 15 years. In 2003, he was invited as a soloist to perform Mozart's Clarinet Concerto at the Jinju Symphony Orchestra's regular concert in South Korea. He participated in the Tokyo Opera no Mori concerts, directed by Seiji Ozawa, held at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan in 2005, 2006, and 2007. He also performed at the Saito Kinen Festival in 2006 and 2008. He has participated as an orchestra player in numerous musicals, including "Elisabeth," "Mozart," and "The Phantom of the Opera." He has also participated in performances with the New Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra, and Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra. He has published arrangements with Nippon Schott and Brain , among others, and in 2009 he composed the clarinet quartet " Cyanic Waves, " which was published by Metropolis in Belgium.

Graduated from Kanagawa Prefectural Yokohama Midorigaoka High School and Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Music, Department of Instrumental Music. Studied clarinet under Kunio Chiba, Masatake Kaiho, Yoshiaki Suzuki, and Akira Kakuta. Studied chamber music under Ryohei Nakagawa and Masaharu Yamamoto. Self-taught in composition.

She worked as a part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Education at Chiba University and Ogaki Women's Junior College.