Tateo Nakajima is one of Artec’s Principal Auditorium Designers and works on the theatre planning and auditorium acoustics aspects of a wide range of projects. He has overall design and management responsibility for projects ranging from concert halls to pop entertainment venues in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Tateo first met Russell Johnson in 1999 while conducting at the Lucerne Concert Hall. He joined Artec in 2001 at the invitation of Russell Johnson, the late founder, who felt that his professional background in conducting and violin performance would be particularly pertinent, first to Artec’s work with artists at and beyond the opening day, and then in the planning and design of Artec’s next generation of performing arts venues.
Tateo Nakajima benefited from an extremely close working relationship with Russell Johnson since joining Artec. This relationship has been a guiding influence in his work as Project Director and Principal Auditorium Designer for the new Montreal concert hall, in Canada; the Salle Pleyel renovation in Paris, France; the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall renovation study, the Mariinsky II Opera House Basic Design for Valery Gergiev, and the Aarhus concert hall, Denmark; as well as the upcoming concert hall in Wroclaw, Poland, the opera house/concert theatre in Rabat Morocco; the Star Performing Arts Venue in Singapore; as well as his consulting work with the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority in Hong Kong. He has led the Artec design team working with such architectural firms as Coop Himmelb(l)au, Foreign Office Architects, Herzog de Meuron, Andy Bromberg of AEDAS, and Zaha Hadid.
The conductors, orchestras and opera companies with whom Tateo has worked as lead consultant include: The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, New World Symphony, Florida Grand Opera, Singapore Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Christophe Eschenbach, Pierre Boulez, Daniel Baremboim, Franz Welser-Möst, Myung Whun Chung, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Stewart Robertson, Iván Fisher, and Valery Gergiev.
Tateo Nakajima received his early training in violin performance in Toronto, Canada, where he graduated from Upper Canada College and the Royal Conservatory of Music in 1988. He then underwent graduate studies at the Utrechts Conservatorium in The Netherlands, working with Viktor Liberman and Hirschhorn. It was at this time that he started formal training in orchestral conducting with Gilbert Varga and Charles Bruck. After his first professional conducting experiences in Lyon, France, he then spent 4 years as a Principal Conductor of the Timisoara State Opera in Romania, during which time he guest conducted widely. It was during this time that he also conducted a new production of ballet at the Vienna State Opera working with Renato Zanella, at the invitation of Ioan Hollender. Before coming to Artec he was engaged by a Dutch producer to establish, direct and tour a private opera company based in Central Europe. He managed and conducted this handpicked company of 100+ artists and technical staff, selecting and working with stage directors, soloists, choreographers, and set designers from around the world. Tateo has had the privilege in recent years of conducting the Witold Lutoslawski Philharmonic Orchestra in Wroclaw, Poland, and also conducted the Aarhus Sinfoniorkester in its new Artec concert hall last season.
Tateo's projects experience involves the following:
- Accolade Project, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, FL, USA
- Boettcher Concert Hall (renovation study) Denver, Colorado, USA
- Center for Ukrainian Music, Mystetskij Arsenal, Kiev, Ukraine
- Chicago Orchestra Hall (consultation) Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Concert Hall, Kulturforum Westfalen, Münster, Germany
- Darat King Abdullah II Performing Arts Center, Amman, Jordan
- Grande Theatre Du Bouregreg, Rabat, Morocco
- Historic Mariinsky Theatre (consultation), St. Petersburg, Russia
- The Bartók National Concert Hall, Palace of Arts, Budapest, Hungary
- Culture and Congress Centre, Lucerne, Switzerland
- Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, Singapore
- Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- La Maison Symphonique de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Meyerson Symphony Center (platform upgrade study) Dallas, Texas, USA
- Mariinsky II, Opera House, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Musikhuset Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark
- National Music Forum, Wroclaw, Poland
- North Jutland House of Music, Aalborg, Denmark
- Salle Pleyel, Paris, France (renovation)
- Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa, California, USA
- Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada
- The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore
- Sunny Development West Kowloon Cultural District Submission, Hong Kong, SAR
- West Kowloon Cultural District Development Plan, Hong Kong SAR
- Zarautz Arts Centre, Zarautz, Spain
photo © Artec Consultants Inc
