Kentaro Machida combines fresh interpretative curiosity with analytical precision and intellectual depth. A Japanese conductor, he was awarded First Prize at the 7th International Athens Conducting Competition. Since 2026 he has been a scholarship recipient of Forum Dirigieren, the Deutscher Musikrat's national development programme for outstanding young conductors.
In 2025 he was selected by Maestro Riccardo Muti as one of five conductors worldwide for the Italian Opera Academy in Tokyo, where he took part in masterclasses and conducted Verdi's “Simon Boccanegra” in concert. He has also conducted the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Bochumer Symphoniker, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt (Oder), Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, the Hebrides Ensemble and the orchestra of Scottish Opera, among others. As an assistant he has worked with Michael Schønwandt, Vassily Sinaisky, Catherine Larsen-Maguire, Michael Seal, Patrick Gallois, Michalis Economou and Natalia Luis-Bassa.
In 2026 he conducted Hampstead Garden Opera's production of “The Rape of Lucretia” and the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt (Oder). Forthcoming engagements include Sinfonietta 92 in the Kammermusiksaal of the Philharmonie Berlin.
Kentaro first completed his master's in orchestral conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Martyn Brabbins and Michael Bawtree, having previously studied with Roland Melia, and then the Advanced Professional Training Programme at the Universität der Künste Berlin under the mentorship of Harry Curtis and Steven Sloane, working with orchestras and ensembles across Germany and Europe. He has received further tuition from Riccardo Muti, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Vasily Petrenko, Johannes Schlaefli, Nicolás Pasquet, Tomáš Hanus, Antony Hermus, Stuart Stratford, Michalis Economou, Ryan Bancroft, Sian Edwards, Alexander Polishchuk, Thomas Søndergård and John Wilson.
A first-class graduate in music from the University of Oxford, he was Senior Organ Scholar at Merton College, where he accompanied the college's acclaimed mixed-voice choir in chapel services, BBC broadcasts, award-winning recordings and international tours across the UK, Europe and the USA. He achieved the highest mark of his cohort in solo organ and is an Associate of the Royal College of Organists. He continues to be invited for organ recitals at home and abroad.
