Japanese saxophonist Makoto Hondo is passionate about the baritone saxophone repertoire, and he collaborates with several composers and makes his own transcriptions or arrangements. His first CD “BARITONISM – Russian Cello works -“ with a programme of two sonatas by S. Rachmaninov and D. Shostakovich was awarded the “56th Record Academy Awards Japan” by Record Geijutsu. After graduating from the Tokyo University of the Arts, he continued his studies at the “Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Danse de Paris” and graduated in the class of Claude Delangel and in the chamber music class of Prof. Laszlo Hadady. As an Erasmus exchange student, he also studied at the “Conservatorium van Amsterdam” in the class of Arno Bornkamp. As a soloist,

Makoto has won three first prizes at international competitions (Slovenia, L’Hay-les-roses in France, Andorra) and first prize of the 34th Japan Wind and Percussion Competition in 2017. In the field of chamber music, he won 2nd prize at the 9th Osaka International Chamber Music Competition. He has received support from the Yamaha Music Foundation, the “Fondation l’Or du Rhin” and the “Fondation Meyer” in France. He teaches at the Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo High School of Music and Senzoku Gakuen High School of Music in Japan.