Tugan Sokhiev Secures a Long-Term Tokyo Role

Tugan Sokhiev’s next major institutional appointment will take him to Tokyo, where he is to become music director of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in September 2028. The announcement arrives during the orchestra’s centenary year and follows a relationship built through regular guest appearances.

The title is significant: Sokhiev will be only the third conductor to serve as the ensemble’s music director. His first season in the post will be 2028–29, giving the orchestra a clear leadership horizon beyond its anniversary celebrations.

For European audiences, Sokhiev is familiar from his long tenure in Toulouse, where he led the Orchestre National du Capitole from 2008 to 2022. He also headed the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin between 2012 and 2016 and served as music director of the Bolshoi Theatre from 2014 to 2022.

His recent responsibilities include the principal conductorship and artistic advisory role at the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande from 2026–27. The Tokyo appointment adds a substantial Asian commitment to that international portfolio.

The NHK relationship itself is far from new. Sokhiev first conducted the orchestra in October 2008, including Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, and made his subscription debut in November 2013. Repeated invitations followed, including a January 2026 visit and three weeks of centenary performances planned for November.

He has praised the players’ individual musical character and adaptability, describing a natural connection that allows concentrated work. The appointment converts that familiarity into a formal artistic responsibility.

Before the Tokyo tenure begins, Sokhiev will conduct the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert on January 1, 2027. That highly visible engagement will offer one public marker of his standing; the NHK post points towards the less episodic work of shaping an orchestra across successive seasons.