Yasuhito Sugiyama Joins Oberlin Conservatory Faculty as Visiting Assistant Professor of Tuba

Yasuhito Sugiyama joins the Oberlin Conservatory faculty this spring as a visiting assistant professor of tuba. A member of the Cleveland Orchestra since 2006, Sugiyama brings extensive performance and teaching experience to Oberlin.

“We are beyond thrilled that Yasuhito Sugiyama, the principal tubist and a real star of the Cleveland Orchestra, has joined us at Oberlin,” says Professor of Flute Alexa Still. “We’ve all been so inspired by his playing in the orchestra.”

Sugiyama began his professional career with the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, followed by stints with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra and Osaka Symphoniker. In 1997, he joined the New Japan Philharmonic and began performing with the Saito Kinen Orchestra. 

He soon distinguished himself as a soloist, appearing with the New Japan Philharmonic in a 1998 performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Tuba Concerto and presenting solo recitals in Tokyo and Osaka the following year. 

In 2003, Sugiyama became the first Asian musician to join the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. He appeared in the 2005 Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Concert under the baton of Lorin Maazel. He remained with the Vienna Philharmonic until September of that year before joining the Cleveland Orchestra.

A dedicated educator, Sugiyama has taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music and serves as a guest professor at Soai University and Tokyo College of Music. He has given master classes at institutions such as Indiana University, the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Northwestern University.

“With such an illustrious performance career, it’s obvious that Yasuhito brings a wealth of experience to his teaching and coaching,” Still says. “He is also renowned for his pedagogy, and we are really excited for our Oberlin students to benefit from that, too.”

A native of Hyogo, Japan, Sugiyama is a graduate of Soai University in Osaka, where he studied with Shuzo Karakawa of the Osaka Philharmonic. He also studied with Rex Martin at Northwestern University and with Robert Tucci of the Bavarian State Opera and the Munich Philharmonic. Other principal teachers include Shigeo Takeda, Fuminori Ogata, and Ronald Bishop. He studied chamber music with Shinichi Go.