Junichi Hirokami is a Japanese conductor. Born in Tokyo, Hirokami studied conducting, piano, musicology, and viola at the Tokyo College of Music. He won the first Kondrashin International Conducting Competition in Amsterdam in September 1984 at age 26. One of the judges of that competition, pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy, then engaged Hirokami to conduct the NHK Symphony Orchestra on a tour of Japan with Ashkenazy in May 1985. From 1991-1996, he was Chief Conductor of the Norrk�ping Symphony Orchestra. He served as Chief Conductor of the Limburg Symphony Orchestra from 1998 to 2000. He has also been the Principal Guest Conductor of both the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Hirokami became the Music Director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra on June 1, 2006, with an initial contract for 3 years. During the orchestra's 2008 financial crisis, Hirokami strongly supported the musicians during a protracted contract dispute, which caused strained relations between Hirokami and the orchestra's board and management. 

January 1st, 1958 in Tokyo Prefecture (Age 66)