Daichi Deguchi is a Japanese conductor based in Berlin. He first came to international attention as the first Japanese winner of the 17th Khachaturian International Conducting Competition, and also received the top prize and Orchestra Special Award at the Kussewitzky International Conducting Competition.

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Since making his Japanese debut with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra’s subscription series in 2022, he has become a regular guest with many of Japan’s leading orchestras, including the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, and Japan Philharmonic Orchestra.

His growing international activity has included appearances with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Armenian National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Victor Hugo, and the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra.

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In 2021, he served as assistant to Vladimir Jurowski with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. In the 2024/25 season, he served as Assistant Conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, to which he returns in June 2026 as a guest conductor.

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Deguchi has also built experience in opera, with productions including Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, L’elisir d’amore, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, La bohème, Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and Gräfin Mariza.

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In Japan, he was awarded the 2025 Akeo Watanabe Music Foundation Award, one of the country’s notable distinctions for conductors. He was also featured in a dedicated segment on Untitled Concert (Daimei no Nai Ongakukai) and selected as one of the “12 Most Promising Artists” by Ongaku no Tomo.

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Born in Toyonaka, Osaka, Deguchi studied Law at Kwansei Gakuin University before graduating from Tokyo College of Music in Composition and Conducting. He completed his Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin in 2023.

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He studied conducting with Junichi Hirokami, Tatsuya Shimono, Christian Ehwald, among others, and opera conducting with Hans-Dieter Baum. He has also been invited by audition to participate in masterclasses with conductors including Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Kristjan Järvi, Donald Runnicles, Johannes Schlaefli, Michiyoshi Inoue, and Ryusuke Numajiri.