Musashi Baba, Conductor
Musashi Baba was born in Zushi/Japan in 1989 and studied as a trombonist at the Toho-Gakuen in Tokyo and at the Music Academy Hanns Eisler in Berlin. He received his first conducting lessons from Manuel Nawri and attended master classes led by Titus Engel, Markus L. Frank, Sian Edwards and Jonathan Stockhammer. He has assisted Manuel Nawri (Echo Ensemble, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Maerzmusik), Zsolt Nagy (Geidai Tokyo) and James Judd (Slovak Philharmonic and Kyoto Symphony). He gathered his first conducting experiences with the student ensembles of both music academies in Berlin, leading mostly works by student composers, and was subsequently engaged officially for rehearsal coaching in New Music.
Since 2015 Musashi Baba has been the conductor of the Junge Philharmonie Berlin. In 2016 he won the First Prize of the Hanns Eisler Forum for the Interpretation of New Music. He has given concerts at festivals such as the Klangspuren Festival Schwaz, Impulse Festival für Neue Musik Sachsen Anhalt, Klangwerkstatt Berlin, Zepernicker Randspiele and Märkische Musiktage, and has conducted ensembles such as Ensemble Interface, Zafraan Ensemble and Ensemble JungeMusik. He has also worked with composers such as Dieter Schnebel, Rebecca Saunders, Torsten Hermann, Lisa Streich.