Vita

Kenichi Kawabata is a Japanese clarinettist and Tonmeister based in Feldkirch, Austria, whose work sits at the intersection of musical performance and sound. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, London (MA, Distinction), the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg (BA, Highest Distinction), and the Zurich University of the Arts — where he completed the Master of Advanced Studies in Tonmeister first in class with a perfect grade of 6.0 — he brings to each project both the ear of a performer and the precision of an engineer.

As a clarinettist, Kawabata has appeared with the Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg, the Argovia Philharmonic, the Bregenzer Festspiele, and the Philharmonia Orchestra London, among others. As a recording producer and sound engineer, he has led over forty classical productions across Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, including sessions for orchestras, chamber ensembles, and international soloists. He trained at Polyhymnia International in Amsterdam and has collaborated closely with leading figures in European classical recording.

What drives him is the conviction that a recording is itself a form of interpretation — one that demands the same depth of musical understanding as performance. His research and practice explore the relationship between acoustic space, musical expression, and the listening experience, with a particular focus on historically informed approaches to sound capture and production.

He is currently a Master's candidate in Music Performance at Stella Vorarlberg Privatuniversität für Musik, and is developing a portfolio of recording projects alongside his ongoing work as a performer and producer.