Reona Ito
Ito is the third generation to be born into a musical family of conductors in Fukuoka, Japan. He moved to the US in 1997 in order to study international affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs of the George Washington University. After graduating, however, he decided to become a professional musician and moved to New York City to study intensively. Ito started his professional career as a conductor in March 2008 with Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro" at the Goldstein Theatre in Queens, New York. Soon after the debut he became music director of the  Reona Ito Chamber Orchestra, a professional orchestra newly established by himself and the Japanese immigrant community in the New York metropolitan area. Ito's inaugural performance with the ensemble was at Carnegie Hall in June of the same year. From 2011 to 2013, Ito was music director of Zagreb Sinfonietta in Croatia. In August 2012 he and the orchestra were invited by the Poreč Music Festival to perform at the Euphrasian Basilica, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. On 5 March 2013 he conducted a special concert celebrating the 20th-Year Anniversary of the Japan-Croatia Diplomatic Establishment, which  was supported by the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia and the Embassy of Japan. Ito was also invited for an official meeting with the then president Ivo Josipović at the Office. In October 2014, Ito received the American Prize in Orchestral Conducting (Professional Orchestra Division), one of the most prestigious national prizes for classical musicians in the US.