Shigenori KUDO was born in Sapporo, Japan.  He finished his musical education at the Paris National Conservatory, studying with Jean-Pierre Rampal.

Prizes

In 1979 he won his First Prize at the Paris National Conservatory; since then he has lived in France and is considered one of the world's best flutists.

He has won prizes in several international competitions; the two most important were First Prizes at both the 2nd Paris International Flute Competition (1978) and the Jean-Pierre Rampal International Competition in Paris (1980).

Shows

in 1979 he debuted in Paris with J-P Rampal at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees.  In 1984 he toured with the Jean-Francois Paillard Chamber Orchestra in the United States, playing in 11 states over a 40-day period.  Then he was invited to the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York and was performed with such artists as Pasquier Trio, Jessye Norman and sejij Ozawa in 1988.  In 1998, he toured Europe as soloist with the Mito Chamber Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa in a work by Toru Takemitsu; his performance at the famous Musikverein in Vienna was particularly applauded.

Shigenori KUDO plays regularly in Europe, in North and South America, in Africa and Asia, both in recitals and accompanied by orchestras: I' Orchestre de la Radio Bavaroise.  English Chamber Orchestra, Saizbourg Mozarteum Orchestra.  Wiener Kammerorchestra, I' Ensemble Intercontemporain, I' Orchestre Jean-Francois Paillard, les Orchestres Lamoureux et Pasdeloup (Paris), les Orchestre Philharmoniques du Luxembourg et des Pays-Bas.  Orchestre Franz Liszt de Budapest, London Mozart Orchestra, French natinal orchestras (Montpellier, Lille, Nice, Capitol de.

Toulouse, Sinfonietta de Picardie...), Satio-Kinen Orchestra, Johannesburg National Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and orchestras of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Sapporo, etc...

He participated prestigious festivals of Vienna, Hamburg, Firenze, New York, Saito-Kinen (in Japan), Mediterranean.  His chamber music partners are exceptional musicians such as Jean-Pierre Rampal, Jessye Norman, The Trio Pasquier, Zurich Trio, Marielle Nordmann, Naoko Yoshino (harp), The Vienna String Quartet, etc...

He was the only Japanese flutist to be invited to take part in a musical festival held on the Mediterranean Sea in September 1994, at which he spent a fortnight performing with such celebrated artists as Matislav Rostropovich, Augustin Dumay, Maria-Joao Pires, Gil Shaham, Yuri Bashmet and Bruno-Leonard Gelber.

In November 1994, Shigenori KUDO presented a recital in Tokyo to mark the 15th anniversary of his debut.  Held at the Tokyo Bunka-Kkaikan, he performed to a packed hall to receipt of the highest acclaim.

Others

Today his career takes him all over the world, working under the direction of the most restigious conductors (Seiji Ozawa, Krzystof Penderecki, F. Leitner, Leonard Slatkin, Horst Stein, J.F. Paillard, David Shallon, etc.).

He has made over 50 recordings.  He teaches since 1988 at I' Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, also gives regularly the masterclasses in Boston, New York, Washington, Seoul, Taiwan, South America, South Africa, in Italy and Japan.