Hitoshi Suzuki has served as the Principal Conductor of the Mid-Somerset Orchestra since 2018. He won the Audience Prize at the Opéra de Baugé International Conducting Competition in July 2018 and secured 2nd prize at the London Classical Soloists Conducting Competition in April 2016. He holds a Master of Arts in Music (Orchestra Conducting) with distinction from the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, supported by scholarships from both the Flemish Government and the French-speaking Community of Belgium.
Hitoshi has trained under prominent conductors, including John Farrer (Director, London Conducting Workshop) and Neil Thomson (former Head of Conducting, Royal College of Music) in London, Mark Heron (Tutor in Conducting, RNCM) in Manchester, and Philippe Gérard (Professor of Conducting, Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles) in Brussels. He began his musical studies in violin, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the Royal Northern College of Music in the UK and the Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen in Belgium.