The , previously known as the , designed to promote Western music in Japan, has been given by the Suntory Music Foundation since their establishment in 1969. The award is presented annually to individuals or groups for the greatest achievement in the development of Western or contemporary music in Japan during the previous year.

The current prize is 7,000,000 yen (approximately US $70,000). A Suntory Music Award Commemorative Concert is held annually in Suntory Hall

Suntory Hall

The Suntory Hall is a concert hall complex consisting of the "Main Hall" and the "Small Hall" located in the Ark Hills complex, near the U.S. Embassy and TV Asahi in the Akasaka district of northern Minato, a ward in Tokyo, Japan...

 to introduce and popularize the work of the recipient.

Recipients

No.	Year	Recipient	Notes
1	1969	Michio Kobayashi (小林 道夫), pianist, harpsichordist and conductor
2	1970	Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi is a Japanese cellist. He started to study music under the tutorship of Hideo Saito, founder of the Tokyo Conservatory.... , cellist
3	1971	Reiji Mitani (三谷 礼二), opera producer
4	1972	Takashi Ogawa (小川 昂), theorist and critic
5	1973	International Christian University International Christian University There are several rankings related to ICU, shown below.-Alumni rankings:According to the Weekly Economist's 2010 rankings and the PRESIDENT's article on 2006/10/16, graduates from ICU have the 24th best employment rate in 400 major companies, and their average graduate salary is the 4th best in...  Organ Committee
6	1974	Kazuyoshi Akiyama Kazuyoshi Akiyama is a Japanese conductor.-Biography:Born into a musical family, he studied piano at the Toho Gakuen School of Music, but was fascinated by the conducting activities of a fellow student, Seiji Ozawa. He decided to study conducting with Hideo Saito... , conductor
7	1975	Yoshinobu Kuribayashi (栗林 義信), baritone Ginji Yamane (山根 銀二), critic
8	1976	Yasushi Akutagawa Yasushi Akutagawa was a Japanese composer and conductor. He was born and raised in Tabata, Tokyo. His father was Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.Akutagawa was taught composition by Kunihiko Hashimoto and Akira Ifukube at the Tokyo Conservatory of Music... , composer and conductor New Symphony Orchestra (新交響楽団)
9	1977	Toshiko Tsunemori (常森 寿子), soprano
10	1978	Teizō Matsumura Teizo Matsumura Teizo Matsumura was a Japanese composer and poet.Orphaned and suffering from tuberculosis, during his recovery in the early 1950s he began to write both haiku and music. He studied with Tomojiro Ikenouchi. He was influenced by Ravel and Stravinsky, but also Asian traditions... , composer
11	1979	Sumire Yoshihara (吉原 すみれ), percussionist
		Special award: Mari Iwamoto String Quartet (巖本真理弦楽四重奏団)
12	1980	Kappa Senoo (妹尾 河童), scenic design Scenic design Scenic design is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers have traditionally come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but nowadays, generally speaking, they are trained professionals, often with M.F.A... er
		Special award: Hideo Edo (江戸 英雄), president of the 1st Japan International Music Competition
13	1981	Minao Shibata (柴田 南雄), composer
14	1982	Yūzō Toyama Yuzo Toyama is a Japanese composer and conductor. A native of Tokyo, he was a pupil of Kan'ichi Shimofusa; he studied conducting with Kurt Wöss and Wilhelm Loibner, and like them later became a conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. As a conductor he has served with numerous orchestras throughout Japan; as... , conductor
		Special award: Kiyoshi Hara, Representative of The Symphony Hall Construction Group
15	1983	Keisuke Suzuki (鈴木 敬介), opera producer
16	1984	Kiyomi Toyoda (豊田 喜代美), soprano
17	1985	Telemann Institute Japan Chamber Orchestra and Chorus	Telemann Institute Japan website
18	1986	Mitsuko Uchida Mitsuko Uchida , born 20 December 1948, is a Japanese naturalized British classical pianist.-Career:Born in Atami, a seaside town close to Tokyo, Japan, Uchida moved to Vienna, Austria, with her diplomat parents when she was twelve years old, after her father was named the Japanese ambassador to Austria... , pianist Hiroshi Wakasugi Hiroshi Wakasugi was a Japanese orchestra conductor. He premiered many of the major Western operas in Japan, and was honoured with many awards for cultural achievement.... , conductor
19	1987	Hiroyuki Iwaki Hiroyuki Iwaki was a Japanese conductor and percussionist.-Biography:Iwaki was born in Tokyo in 1932. Shortly after he entered an elementary school, he moved to Kyoto due to his father's transference. He came to play the xylophone at nine years old... , conductor
20	1988	Yasuko Hayashi (林 康子), soprano
21	1989	Masahiro Arita (有田 正広), early music performer
22	1990	Tōru Takemitsu Toru Takemitsu was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu possessed consummate skill in the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre... , composer
23	1991	Tadaaki Otaka Tadaaki Otaka is a Japanese-born, British-based conductor. He studied composition, theory, and French horn, at the Toho Gakuen School of Music, and later was a conducting student of Hideo Saito.... , conductor
24	1992	Shigeo Neriki (練木 繁夫), pianist
25	1993	Midori Gotō Midori Goto is a Japanese American violinist. She made her debut at the age of 11 in a last-minute change of programming during a concert highlighting young performers by the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. When she was 21, she formed the philanthropic group Midori and Friends to help bring music to... , violinist
		Special award: Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch is a retired German conductor and pianist.-Biography:Sawallisch was born in Munich, and studied composition and pianoforte there privately: at the conclusion of the war, in 1946 he continued his studies at the Munich High School for Music and passed his final examination for... , conductor
26	1994	Takayoshi Wanami (和波 孝禧), violinist
27	1995	Nobuko Imai Nobuko Imai , is a Japanese classical violist with an extensive career as soloist and chamber musician. Since 1988 she plays an Andrea Guarneri of 1690.-Biography:... , violist
28	1996	Takahiro Sonoda (園田 高弘), pianist Jōji Yuasa Joji Yuasa is a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music.-Biography:Born in Kōriyama, Fukushima, he is self-taught as a composer.In 1951 or 1952, together with the composer Tōru Takemitsu and other contemporary artists and musicians, he founded Jikken Kobo , an organization dedicated to the... , composer
29	1997	Tokyo Symphony Orchestra Tokyo Symphony Orchestra The , or TSO, was established in 1946 as the Toho Symphony Orchestra . It assumed its present name in 1951.Based in Kawasaki, the TSO performs in numerous concert halls and serves as the pit ensemble for some productions at New National Theatre, Tokyo, the city's leading opera house...
		Special award: Toshiro Mayuzumi Toshiro Mayuzumi Toshiro Mayuzumi was a Japanese composer.-Biography:... , composer
30	1998	Hikaru Hayashi Hikaru Hayashi is a contemporary Japanese composer, pianist and conductor. He is the cousin of flautist Ririko Hayashi.Hayashi entered Tokyo University of the Arts as a composition student but did not complete his studies. Studying under Hisatada Otaka, he produced many compositions including orchestral works... , composer
31	1999	Akira Miyoshi Akira Miyoshi Akira Miyoshi is a Japanese composer.Miyoshi was a child prodigy on piano, studying with Kozaburo Hirai and Tomojiro Ikenouchi. He studied French literature at the University of Tokyo, and then at the Paris Conservatory with Henri Challan and Raymond Gallois-Montbrun from 1955 to 1957. He was... , composer
32	2000	Taijiro Iimori (飯守 泰次郎), conductor	Taijiro Iimori website
33	2001	Toshi Ichiyanagi Toshi Ichiyanagi is a Japanese composer of avant-garde music. He studied with Tomojiro Ikenouchi and John Cage.One of his most notable works is the 1960 composition, Kaiki, which combined Japanese instruments, shō and koto, and western instruments, harmonica and saxophone. Another work Distance requires the... , composer
34	2002	Seiji Ozawa Seiji Ozawa is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.-Early years:... , conductor Kaori Kimura (木村 かをり), pianist
35	2003	Ichiro Nodaira (野平 一郎), composer	Ichiro Nodaira website
36	2004	Akira Nishimura Akira Nishimura is a Japanese composer.Nishimura studied composition and musical theory on a graduate course at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He also studied Asiatic traditional music, religion, aesthetics, cosmology and the heterophonic concepts, all of which had a lasting influence on his... , composer
37	2005	Hidemi Suzuki (鈴木 秀美), cellist and conductor
38	2006	Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus (東京混声合唱団)	Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus website
39	2007	Toshio Hosokawa Toshio Hosokawa is a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music.-Biography:Hosokawa studied with Yun Isang at the Berlin University of the Arts. Since 1998, Hosokawa has served as Composer-in-Residence at the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. In 2004, Hosokawa became a guest professor at Tokyo College of Music... , composer
40	2008	Yumi Koyama (小山 由美), mezzo-soprano
41	2009	Kazushi Ōno Kazushi Ono is a Japanese conductor, born in Tokyo. He studied at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and with Wolfgang Sawallisch and Giuseppe Patanè at the Bavarian State Opera , as a scholar of the Japanese Ministry of Culture. In 1987 he won First Prize in the 3rd Toscanini International... , conductor
42	2010	Yoshio Watanabe (渡邊順生), harpsichordist

External links

• Suntory Music Foundation – Suntory Music Award