Naoto Sakiya
Biography Naoto Sakiya
Naoto Sakiya
won first prize in the junior division of the 1998 Novosibirsk International Competition and third prize in the junior division of the Menuhin International Competition. At the age of 15, he became the youngest student to be admitted to the Cologne University of Music. He subsequently studied at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris and the Toho Gakuen School of Music’s Soloist Diploma Course, before completing his studies at the Basel Academy of Music.
In 2006, he founded the Wales String Quartet. As its first violinist, he won third prize in the string quartet category at both the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition. He has performed chamber music with numerous world-class artists, including Menahem Pressler, Alexander Romanovsky, Paul Meyer, and Mischa Maisky. He has also been invited to perform at many of Japan’s most prestigious venues, such as Suntory Hall, Oji Hall, Hakuju Hall, Kioi Hall, Dai-ichi Life Hall, and the iichiko Grand Culture Center.
From 2014, he served for eight years as the solo concertmaster of the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras including the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, the Kanagawa Philharmonic, the Nagoya Philharmonic, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, and the Novosibirsk Philharmonic. He has also appeared as a guest concertmaster with various orchestras across Japan, including the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra.
He studied violin under Koichiro Harada, Zakhar Bron, Gérard Poulet, Roland Daugareil, and Daniel Sepec, and received instruction in string quartet performance from Rainer Schmidt (of the Hagen Quartet). Currently, he is active in a wide range of musical endeavors, including his work with the Wales String Quartet and the violin duo "DOS DEL FIDDLES" (formed with Yasutaka Ishida). He also frequently appears as a guest concertmaster for orchestras across Japan.
As a member of the Wales String Quartet, he has released nine albums (on the Fontec label), including a complete cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets (completed in 2025). With "DOS DEL FIDDLES," he released the album "DOS DEL FIDDLES -LIVE-" (Nippon Columbia).
In October 2022, he released his first solo album, "destined for... BACH" (Fontec)—a collection centered on J.S. Bach’s works for unaccompanied violin—which received high critical acclaim, including a "Special Selection" ("Tokusen-ban") designation from the magazine *Record Geijutsu*.
In November 2023, he released *Brahms: The Three Violin Sonatas* (Fontec), followed in December by *Re: Vivaldi*—released via his own label, kKy records—demonstrating his growing commitment to recording projects. His latest release, "Kreisler - Wien 1905" (kKy records), was named a "Semi-Special Selection" ("Jun-tokusen-ban") by "Record Geijutsu".
