Established in 1966 with the aim of discovering and supporting outstanding musical talents, the Tokyo International Music Competition vigorously promotes the growth of young musicians who display a broad range of promise in an international forum. It also serves to promote cultural exchanges between representatives of different countries and to contribute to the further development of musical culture. The first competition for singing was held in 1966, followed by the first competition for conducting in 1967. The competition for chamber music was established in 1974. The Tokyo International Music Competition for Conducting has been renamed in 1988 from Min-On Competition.
Prize winners of Past Conductors Competitions
1st Competition in 1967 1st Prize: Yukinori Tezuka, Japan 2nd Prize: Shigenobu Yamaoka, Japan 3rd Prize: Hiroshi Koizumi, Japan Finalists: Kotaro Sato, Japan; Yasuhiko Shiozawa, Japan 2nd Competition in 1970 1st Prize: Kazuhiro Koizumi, Japan 2nd Prize: Tadaaki Otaka, Japan 3rd Prize: Jacques Brourman, USA Finalists: Kenichiro Kobayashi, Japan; Michiyoshi Inoue, Japan; Yasuhiko Shiozawa, Japan; David Howell, United Kingdom 3rd Competition in 1973 1st Prize: No recipient 2nd Prize : Akinari Iguchi, Japan; Yasuhiko Shiozawa, Japan; David Howell, United Kingdom 3rd Prize: No recipient Finalists: Makoto Kokubu, Japan; Ryo Kushimoto, Japan; Yoshinori Kawachi, Japan 4th Competition in 1976 1st Prize: Alan Balter, USA 2nd Prize: Jerome Kaltenbach, France 3rd Prize: Makoto Kokubu, Japan Finalists: Kazuyoshi Tanaka, Japan; Kiyoto Takagi, Japan 5th Competition in 1979 1st Prize: Yoshikazu Tanaka, Japan 2nd Prize: Kim Hong Jae, North Korea 3rd Prize: Satomi Kurita, Japan Finalists: Kiyomasa Nagase, Japan; Jean Paul Penin, France 6th Competition in 1982 1st Prize: Naohiro Totsuka, Japan 2nd Prize: Kazushi Ono, Japan 3rd Prize: Hiroyuki Odano, Japan Finalists: Kazufumi Yamashita, Japan; Junichi Hirokami, Japan 7th Competition in 1985 1st Prize: No recipient 2nd Prize : Norichika Iimori, Japan; Tetsuji Honna, Japan 3rd Prize: Pascal Verrot, France Finalists: Richard Westerfield, USA; Nikolay Alexeev, Russia; Evgeny Samoilov, Russia 8th Competition in 1988 1st Prize: Hirofumi Kurita, Japan 2nd Prize: Alexandre Titov, Russia 3rd Prize: Carlo Rizzi, Italy Finalists: Yip Wing Sie, China; Nikolai Diadura, Russia 9th Competition in 1991 1st Prize: Olivier Grangean, France 2nd Prize : Yuri Nitta, Japan; Daniel Kleiner, Switzerland 3rd Prize: No recipient Finalists: Akira Mori, Japan; Rupert D'Cruze, United Kingdom 10th Competition in 1994 1st Prize: Francisco de Galve, Spain 2nd Prize: Dorian Wilson, USA 3rd Prize: Koji Kawamoto, Japan Finalists: Satoshi Uegaki, Japan; Masahiro Ueno, Japan; Ya-Hui Wang, Singapore 11th Competition in 1997 1st Prize: No recipient 2nd Prize : Marco Parisotto, Canada; Yun-Sung Chang, South Korea 3rd Prize: Ronen Borshevsky, Israel Finalists: Mark Allen McCoy, USA; Dorian Wilson, USA; Ligia Amadio, Brazil 12th Competition in 2000 1st Prize: Tatsuya Shimono, Japan 2nd Prize: Toshio Yanagisawa, Japan 3rd Prize: No recipient Finalists: Christine E. Myers, USA; George Tchitchinadze, Georgia 13th Competition in 2003 1st Prize: No recipient 2nd Prize: Alexander Mayer, Germany 3rd Prize: James Lowe, United Kingdom Finalists: Keigo Okuda, Japan; Helene Bouchez, France 14th Competition in 2006 1st Prize: No recipient 2nd Prize: Kentaro Kawase, Japan 3rd Prize: No recipient Finalists: Shizuo Z Kuwahara, USA; Natalia Oleynik, Russia; Jeong In Hyeok, South Korea 15th Competition in 2009 1st Prize: No recipient 2nd Prize: No recipient 3rd Prize: Mikhail Leontyev, Russia Finalists: Keita Matsui, Japan; Julien Jean Leroy, France 16th Competition in 2012 1st Prize: No recipient 2nd Prize: No recipient 3rd Prize: No recipient Finalists: Maja Metelska, Poland; Mayana Ishizaki, Japan; Yuko Tanaka, Japan 17th Competition in 2015 1st Prize: Diego Martin Etxebarria, Spain 2nd Prize: Gen Ota, Japan 3rd Prize: Corinna Niemeyer, Germany Finalists: Ondřej Vrabec, Czech Republic 18th Competition in 2018 1st Prize: Nodoka Okisawa, Japan 2nd Prize: Kanade Yokoyama, Japan 3rd Prize:Masaru Kumakura, Japan Finalists: Earl Lee, Canada
