Born in 1961 and a graduate of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts, the saxophonist Nobuya Sugawa is the winner of numerous prizes in his native Japan. Having made his professional debut in 1984, he performs more than 100 concerts per year and has released more than thirty CDs. He astonished the Japanese classical saxophone world by receiving the Art Award of the Agency for Cultural Affairs in both 1996 and 2001. He has played with most of the leading orchestras in Japan, including the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Charles Dutoit and Alan Gilbert, and abroad, in addition to the BBC Philharmonic under Sachio Fujioka, has appeared with the Württembergische Philharmonie, Orchestre d’harmonie de la Garde républicaine, Eastman Wind Ensemble, Philharmonia Orchestra and Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. He has also played with soloists such as Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Ron Carter, Martin Taylor, Katona Twins and Takashi Kako, and has been invited to give concerts and master-classes in the United States, Canada, China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and throughout Europe. Nobuya Sugawa has commissioned works for saxophone, which have been taken up by performers around the world. A member of the Trouvère Quartet, he has also been appointed as concert master of the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra. He plays an alto saxophone (YAS–875EXG) and soprano saxophone (YSS–875EXG) custom made by Yamaha. www.sugawasax.com