About
Eiki Isomura is a conductor of opera and symphonic music, a champion of new works, and a devoted advocate for emerging artists. He currently serves as Artistic Director at Opera in the Heights and maintains an active schedule of guest engagements around the United States.
Scroll down for reviews and performance dates.
About
Eiki Isomura is a conductor of opera and symphonic music, a champion of new works, and a devoted advocate for emerging artists. He currently serves as Artistic Director at Opera in the Heights and maintains an active schedule of guest engagements around the United States.
Scroll down for reviews and performance dates.
Press
“…wondrous sound elicited from the orchestra…under maestro Eiki Isomura, who coaxes sweetness and then tempests from the players.”
- Houston Press, 12/5/2023 Humperdinck: Hansel & Gretel
“Conductor Eiki Isomura and his eight-member chamber ensemble provide wonderfully atmospheric playing, which they deliver with nuance and virtuosity.”
- Opera News, ‘Critic’s Choice,’ April 2023 - Brandt/Beber: Kassandra, CD on Navona Records
“Maestro Eiki Isomura leads Verdi through his paces, roaring through those trumpet denunciations of vengeance or innocently purring through the love duets. He loves his Verdi and you can hear it clear and clean.”
-Houston Press, 3/26/2023 Verdi: Rigoletto
“The eleven-piece ensemble led with precision by Eiki Isomura, gives a crackerjack rendering of the virtuoso score.”
-Opera News, ‘Critic’s Choice,’ February 2023 - CD of Al-Zand/Ionesco: The Leader, CD on Parma Records
“The score was presented with a crisp clarity by a [15] piece ensemble conducted by Eiki Isomura.”
-Santa Barbara Independent, 02/23/2023 - Perla/Murphy Moo: An American Dream at Opera Santa Barbara
“OH ‘s artistic director Eiki Isomura conducted with both bounce and tenderness.”
-Opera Magazine (UK), 12/06/2022 - Donizetti: Elixir of Love, Opera in the Heights
“Under maestro Eiki Isomura, they coalesced into a jitter-bugging parade, sounding fresh and lean. The orchestra bounced right along with them… What a marvelous gift from Opera in the Heights.”
-Houston Press, 12/06/2022 - Donizetti: Elixir of Love, Opera in the Heights
“The musical forces assembled by Opera Philadelphia made a strong case for the score. Conductor Eiki Isomura elicited a precise, nuanced performance from the ensemble[…]His control was evident down to the carefully calibrated, seemingly endless decrescendo that closes the work.”
-Washington Classical Review, 09/22/2022 - Hosokawa/Poe: The Raven, Opera Philadelphia
“The chamber ensemble, led by conductor Eiki Isomura, sketched an eerie mood, oftencentering on a single, insistent pitch (“evermore?”), scratchy string effects and that most foreboding of all orchestral sounds: quiet, sustained low flutes.”
-Philadelphia INquirer, 09/22/2022 - Hosokawa/Poe: The Raven, Opera Philadelphia
“The chamber orchestral score[…]has a swirling and sometimes disorienting sense of perpetual motion - often beautiful and disquieting in equal parts - and is superbly performed here y a small ensemble and conductor Eiki Isomura.”
-Parterre, 09/22/2022 - Hosokawa/Poe: The Raven, Opera Philadelphia
“The music was the thing, with no little kudos to conductor Eiki Isomura and the hard-working musicians of the ensemble. It was mesmerizing, particularly the chamber orchestra’s interplay with mezzo Choi[…] COnductor Eiki Isomura seemed so totally in control of what the chamber players were doing that everything seemed to make sense, even when it was at its most atonal.”
-Broadway World, 10/06/2022 - Hosokawa/Poe: The Raven, Opera Philadelphia
“There is a sense of emotional purity in the notes played by the featured instruments and orchestral sections. Kudos to the ensemble and conductor Eiki Isomura.”
-OperaGene, 10/10/2022 - Hosokawa/Poe: The Raven, Opera Philadelphia
“[…]un orchestre de chambre qui livre une partition mettant en valeur les harmonies des cordes et bois (faisant le lien entre Occident et Orient, opéra et théâtre) dirigés musicalement par Eiki Isomura.”
-Olyrix, 09/26/2022 - Hosokawa/Poe: The Raven, Opera Philadelphia
“Eiki Isomura, coproductor i director de diverses estrenes mundials amb l’OH a través de col·laboracions amb MUSIQA, dirigeix amb una brillantor radiant el conjunt d’instrumentistes amb piano i els solistes vocals, d’un gran prestigi. Isomura posa en relleu les subtileses harmòniques de la música de Brandt i el treball excepcional de Beber.”
-Sonograma Magazine, 07/29/2022 - Brandt/Beber: Kassandra, CD on Navona Records
“Eiki Isomura leads his septet orchestra as if they were a philharmonic. There was triumph, passion, and playfulness. From such a small ensemble, the sound is rich and expansive.”
-Houston Press, 06/03/2022 - Wang: Scalia/Ginsburg, Holocaust Museum Houston/Opera in the Heights
“Eiki Isomura led an emotional OH orchestra and chorus, fully-immersed in Tchaikovsky's lush romanticism.”
-Houston Press, 04/03/2022 - Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin, Opera in the Heights
“Maestro Isomura loves his Verdi and, even with a pared-down orchestration, brings out nuances in the score not often heard from bigger houses. There's energy throughout… lean and muscular, no dead space anywhere, It moves and rushes forward, all juicy overripe passion, everything Elemental. Isomura and his fine orchestra bring this to the forefront with masterful fire and fury.”
-Houston Press, 11/14/2021 - Verdi: Il Trovatore, Opera in the Heights
“As usual, OH maestro Eiki Isomura leads a splendid orchestra, finding the goofball comedy in Leader and whipping them into an appropriate ecological frenzy in Kassandra.”
-Houston Press, 2/24/2020
“Under maestro Eiki Isomura the OH orchestra has never sounded so lush and supple. As a prelude to Amahl, they played Respighi's fragrant Botticelli Triptych with its tripping depiction of water, frolic, and procession. The orchestra sounded ravishing.”
-Houston Press, 12/9/2019
“Eiki Isomura provides the fluid Japanese translation and the transcendent musical arc that is Puccini's. Under his galvanic baton, the orchestra sounds like a Philharmonic.”
-Houston Press, 4/29/19
“it was during the love duet, that I truly noticed the quality of the orchestra. I thought, ‘This has got so much sweep and yet the orchestra is essentially the size of a pit band…’and yet most of the time everything sounded well-rounded and proportional, a credit to conductor/co-librettist Eiki Isomura.
-OperaWire, 4/10/19
“Maestro Isomura elicited vividly distinctive playing from his orchestra…Isomura’s assured baton masterfully partnered with the singers, phrasing with the elasticity the composition requires, but always keeping the drama moving inexorably forward.”
-Opera Today, 4/10/19
“Eiki Isomura conducted '[La Fille du Régiment] with crispness and buoyancy.”
-Opera Magainze (UK), February 2019 issue
“maestro Eiki Isomura, who seems to have lived another life in Argentina for the love and passion he imbues into the score [of María de Buenos Aires]…”
-Houston Press, 2/16/19
"Eiki Isomura, OH's artistic director, whips up musical enchantment aplenty. Brisk and taut, he breezes through Mozart...the ensemble sounded full and lush."
-Houston Press, 11/12/17
“The strong ensemble cast was tidily supported by the 21 member orchestra under OH’s Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, Eiki Isomura.”
-Opera Magazine (UK), September 2017
"[Adamo's] chamber orchestration is sumptuously accomplished, deeply textured and lovingly rendered under maestro Eiki Isomura and his nimble ensemble."
-Houston Press, 4/1/17
"Listen to the overture and you'll see what glories lie here. A soft burst from the orchestra jumps into a swirling tuneful wisp as the strings curl upward like incense. As usual, Maestro Isomura makes the whole thing sound like the Philharmonic. Opera in the Heights puts on a very good show. Bizet wins all around."
-Houston Press, 2/4/17
"La Bohème is always classified as the world's most popular opera, but it now looks – and sounds – as if freshly composed. Under maestro Eiki Isomura, with a superlative age-appropriate cast...[Bohème has] been revivified."
-Houston Press, 11/14/16
"Is there any opera that so resembles champagne as the heady, intoxicating Die Fledermaus? OPera in the Heights's production is certainly vintage in sound, with its young, appealing cast; Eiki Isomura keeps his sprightly tuned orchestra just this side of Grand Cru...The young and vivacious cast is first-rate...the OH Chorus sparkles...The orchestra has never sounded so lively. They, too, I imagine, are drunk on Strauss.
-Houston Press, 9/19/16
"Under Eiki Isomura, the orchestra has never sounded so focused... Down the line, this is ensemble playing of fine caliber... The OH chorus is ultra-fine, too, smooth and lustrous, which is saying something because they've been so consistently good all season. Maestro Isomura deserves our thanks."
-Houston Press, 4/12/16
"Opera in the Heights tackled comic Rossini with an energetic and well-sung Lambert Hall staging of La Cenerentola. Oh's Principal Conductor, Eiki Isomura coaxed sprightly support from his 19-member band."
-Opera Magazine, 2/13/16
"THIS IS THE INTIMATE COMPANY AT ITS MOST BEGUILING IN SEASONS...CASTING A SPELL THAT BEFITS ROSSINI'S DISTINCT MARVELS IN MELODY AND TEXTURE...EIKI ISOMURA HAS ASSEMBLED A YOUNG, NIGH-PERFECT CAST, AMAZINGLY ASSURED...EVERYTHING IS AGLOW AND NOTHING IS OVERDONE."
-HOUSTON PRESS, 2/9/16
"TAUT AND FRAGRANT, A WONDERFUL HOMAGE TO THE COMPOSER...TESTAMENT TO MENOTTI'S SKILL (MUSIC AND LIBRETTO) AND THE FINE PLAYING OF THE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA UNDER EIKI ISOMURA AND THE EXEMPLARY SWEET CAST."
- HOUSTON PRESS, 11/6/15
"EIKI ISOMURA CONDUCTS WITH FINESSE AND THE ORCHESTRA RADIANTLY DELIVERS SOUND OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY...AN ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE THAT IS SUMPTUOUS AND DYNAMIC..." -
BWW OPERA WORLD, 2/8/15
Press
“…wondrous sound elicited from the orchestra…under maestro Eiki Isomura, who coaxes sweetness and then tempests from the players.”
- Houston Press, 12/5/2023 Humperdinck: Hansel & Gretel
“Conductor Eiki Isomura and his eight-member chamber ensemble provide wonderfully atmospheric playing, which they deliver with nuance and virtuosity.”
- Opera News, ‘Critic’s Choice,’ April 2023 - Brandt/Beber: Kassandra, CD on Navona Records
“Maestro Eiki Isomura leads Verdi through his paces, roaring through those trumpet denunciations of vengeance or innocently purring through the love duets. He loves his Verdi and you can hear it clear and clean.”
-Houston Press, 3/26/2023 Verdi: Rigoletto
“The eleven-piece ensemble led with precision by Eiki Isomura, gives a crackerjack rendering of the virtuoso score.”
-Opera News, ‘Critic’s Choice,’ February 2023 - CD of Al-Zand/Ionesco: The Leader, CD on Parma Records
“The score was presented with a crisp clarity by a [15] piece ensemble conducted by Eiki Isomura.”
-Santa Barbara Independent, 02/23/2023 - Perla/Murphy Moo: An American Dream at Opera Santa Barbara
“OH ‘s artistic director Eiki Isomura conducted with both bounce and tenderness.”
-Opera Magazine (UK), 12/06/2022 - Donizetti: Elixir of Love, Opera in the Heights
“Under maestro Eiki Isomura, they coalesced into a jitter-bugging parade, sounding fresh and lean. The orchestra bounced right along with them… What a marvelous gift from Opera in the Heights.”
-Houston Press, 12/06/2022 - Donizetti: Elixir of Love, Opera in the Heights
“The musical forces assembled by Opera Philadelphia made a strong case for the score. Conductor Eiki Isomura elicited a precise, nuanced performance from the ensemble[…]His control was evident down to the carefully calibrated, seemingly endless decrescendo that closes the work.”
-Washington Classical Review, 09/22/2022 - Hosokawa/Poe: The Raven, Opera Philadelphia
“The chamber ensemble, led by conductor Eiki Isomura, sketched an eerie mood, oftencentering on a single, insistent pitch (“evermore?”), scratchy string effects and that most foreboding of all orchestral sounds: quiet, sustained low flutes.”
-Philadelphia INquirer, 09/22/2022 - Hosokawa/Poe: The Raven, Opera Philadelphia
“The chamber orchestral score[…]has a swirling and sometimes disorienting sense of perpetual motion - often beautiful and disquieting in equal parts - and is superbly performed here y a small ensemble and conductor Eiki Isomura.”
-Parterre, 09/22/2022 - Hosokawa/Poe: The Raven, Opera Philadelphia
“The music was the thing, with no little kudos to conductor Eiki Isomura and the hard-working musicians of the ensemble. It was mesmerizing, particularly the chamber orchestra’s interplay with mezzo Choi[…] COnductor Eiki Isomura seemed so totally in control of what the chamber players were doing that everything seemed to make sense, even when it was at its most atonal.”
-Broadway World, 10/06/2022 - Hosokawa/Poe: The Raven, Opera Philadelphia
“There is a sense of emotional purity in the notes played by the featured instruments and orchestral sections. Kudos to the ensemble and conductor Eiki Isomura.”
-OperaGene, 10/10/2022 - Hosokawa/Poe: The Raven, Opera Philadelphia
“[…]un orchestre de chambre qui livre une partition mettant en valeur les harmonies des cordes et bois (faisant le lien entre Occident et Orient, opéra et théâtre) dirigés musicalement par Eiki Isomura.”
-Olyrix, 09/26/2022 - Hosokawa/Poe: The Raven, Opera Philadelphia
“Eiki Isomura, coproductor i director de diverses estrenes mundials amb l’OH a través de col·laboracions amb MUSIQA, dirigeix amb una brillantor radiant el conjunt d’instrumentistes amb piano i els solistes vocals, d’un gran prestigi. Isomura posa en relleu les subtileses harmòniques de la música de Brandt i el treball excepcional de Beber.”
-Sonograma Magazine, 07/29/2022 - Brandt/Beber: Kassandra, CD on Navona Records
“Eiki Isomura leads his septet orchestra as if they were a philharmonic. There was triumph, passion, and playfulness. From such a small ensemble, the sound is rich and expansive.”
-Houston Press, 06/03/2022 - Wang: Scalia/Ginsburg, Holocaust Museum Houston/Opera in the Heights
“Eiki Isomura led an emotional OH orchestra and chorus, fully-immersed in Tchaikovsky's lush romanticism.”
-Houston Press, 04/03/2022 - Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin, Opera in the Heights
“Maestro Isomura loves his Verdi and, even with a pared-down orchestration, brings out nuances in the score not often heard from bigger houses. There's energy throughout… lean and muscular, no dead space anywhere, It moves and rushes forward, all juicy overripe passion, everything Elemental. Isomura and his fine orchestra bring this to the forefront with masterful fire and fury.”
-Houston Press, 11/14/2021 - Verdi: Il Trovatore, Opera in the Heights
“As usual, OH maestro Eiki Isomura leads a splendid orchestra, finding the goofball comedy in Leader and whipping them into an appropriate ecological frenzy in Kassandra.”
-Houston Press, 2/24/2020
“Under maestro Eiki Isomura the OH orchestra has never sounded so lush and supple. As a prelude to Amahl, they played Respighi's fragrant Botticelli Triptych with its tripping depiction of water, frolic, and procession. The orchestra sounded ravishing.”
-Houston Press, 12/9/2019
“Eiki Isomura provides the fluid Japanese translation and the transcendent musical arc that is Puccini's. Under his galvanic baton, the orchestra sounds like a Philharmonic.”
-Houston Press, 4/29/19
“it was during the love duet, that I truly noticed the quality of the orchestra. I thought, ‘This has got so much sweep and yet the orchestra is essentially the size of a pit band…’and yet most of the time everything sounded well-rounded and proportional, a credit to conductor/co-librettist Eiki Isomura.
-OperaWire, 4/10/19
“Maestro Isomura elicited vividly distinctive playing from his orchestra…Isomura’s assured baton masterfully partnered with the singers, phrasing with the elasticity the composition requires, but always keeping the drama moving inexorably forward.”
-Opera Today, 4/10/19
“Eiki Isomura conducted '[La Fille du Régiment] with crispness and buoyancy.”
-Opera Magainze (UK), February 2019 issue
“maestro Eiki Isomura, who seems to have lived another life in Argentina for the love and passion he imbues into the score [of María de Buenos Aires]…”
-Houston Press, 2/16/19
"Eiki Isomura, OH's artistic director, whips up musical enchantment aplenty. Brisk and taut, he breezes through Mozart...the ensemble sounded full and lush."
-Houston Press, 11/12/17
“The strong ensemble cast was tidily supported by the 21 member orchestra under OH’s Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, Eiki Isomura.”
-Opera Magazine (UK), September 2017
"[Adamo's] chamber orchestration is sumptuously accomplished, deeply textured and lovingly rendered under maestro Eiki Isomura and his nimble ensemble."
-Houston Press, 4/1/17
"Listen to the overture and you'll see what glories lie here. A soft burst from the orchestra jumps into a swirling tuneful wisp as the strings curl upward like incense. As usual, Maestro Isomura makes the whole thing sound like the Philharmonic. Opera in the Heights puts on a very good show. Bizet wins all around."
-Houston Press, 2/4/17
"La Bohème is always classified as the world's most popular opera, but it now looks – and sounds – as if freshly composed. Under maestro Eiki Isomura, with a superlative age-appropriate cast...[Bohème has] been revivified."
-Houston Press, 11/14/16
"Is there any opera that so resembles champagne as the heady, intoxicating Die Fledermaus? OPera in the Heights's production is certainly vintage in sound, with its young, appealing cast; Eiki Isomura keeps his sprightly tuned orchestra just this side of Grand Cru...The young and vivacious cast is first-rate...the OH Chorus sparkles...The orchestra has never sounded so lively. They, too, I imagine, are drunk on Strauss.
-Houston Press, 9/19/16
"Under Eiki Isomura, the orchestra has never sounded so focused... Down the line, this is ensemble playing of fine caliber... The OH chorus is ultra-fine, too, smooth and lustrous, which is saying something because they've been so consistently good all season. Maestro Isomura deserves our thanks."
-Houston Press, 4/12/16
"Opera in the Heights tackled comic Rossini with an energetic and well-sung Lambert Hall staging of La Cenerentola. Oh's Principal Conductor, Eiki Isomura coaxed sprightly support from his 19-member band."
-Opera Magazine, 2/13/16
"THIS IS THE INTIMATE COMPANY AT ITS MOST BEGUILING IN SEASONS...CASTING A SPELL THAT BEFITS ROSSINI'S DISTINCT MARVELS IN MELODY AND TEXTURE...EIKI ISOMURA HAS ASSEMBLED A YOUNG, NIGH-PERFECT CAST, AMAZINGLY ASSURED...EVERYTHING IS AGLOW AND NOTHING IS OVERDONE."
-HOUSTON PRESS, 2/9/16
"TAUT AND FRAGRANT, A WONDERFUL HOMAGE TO THE COMPOSER...TESTAMENT TO MENOTTI'S SKILL (MUSIC AND LIBRETTO) AND THE FINE PLAYING OF THE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA UNDER EIKI ISOMURA AND THE EXEMPLARY SWEET CAST."
- HOUSTON PRESS, 11/6/15
"EIKI ISOMURA CONDUCTS WITH FINESSE AND THE ORCHESTRA RADIANTLY DELIVERS SOUND OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY...AN ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE THAT IS SUMPTUOUS AND DYNAMIC..." -
BWW OPERA WORLD, 2/8/15
Calendar
2023-24 Season
October 27 & 29, 2023 - Tosca - Opera Orlando
November 13-17, 2023 - The Big Swim (Workshop) - Houston Grand Opera
December 1-9, 2023 - Hansel and Gretel - OPera in the Heights
February 16-18, 2024 - The Big Swim - Houston Grand Opera and Asia Society Texas Center
February 22, 2024 - MUSIQA at the Blaffer Gallery
April 5-13, 2024 - La Boheme - Opera in the Heights
June 1-9, 2024 - MAdama Butterfly - PAcific Opera Project
July 2024 - Ruddigore - The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston
Calendar
2023-24 Season
October 27 & 29, 2023 - Tosca - Opera Orlando
November 13-17, 2023 - The Big Swim (Workshop) - Houston Grand Opera
December 1-9, 2023 - Hansel and Gretel - OPera in the Heights
February 16-18, 2024 - The Big Swim - Houston Grand Opera and Asia Society Texas Center
February 22, 2024 - MUSIQA at the Blaffer Gallery
April 5-13, 2024 - La Boheme - Opera in the Heights
June 1-9, 2024 - MAdama Butterfly - PAcific Opera Project
July 2024 - Ruddigore - The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston