Shizuo Z Kuwahara won First Prize in the prestigious Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition in Frankfurt, Germany, and Third Prize at the Malko International Conducting Competition. His conducting career ascended rapidly after the Solti Competition, leading to conducting invitations from the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, the Polish Chamber Orchestra, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, and the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester. With an invitation from Valery Gergiev, Kuwahara made a sensational debut at The Mariinsky Theatre with Verdi’s La Traviata in 2018, which resulted in a long-term relationship with the company. He was immediately invited back to conduct Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Puccini’s Tosca, Verdi’s Macbeth and several orchestral programs. The following year, he was appointed as a principal guest conductor of The Mariinsky Theatre. He recently made a debut with The Mariinsky Ballet Company, conducting the new production of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé. This season he is scheduled to conduct the new production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, and he will lead performances of Turandot and several other operas, ballets and orchestral productions. (In March 2022, Mr. Kuwahara suspended his guest conductor position with The Mariinsky Theatre until the global conflict is resolved.)