Violinist Daisuke Yamamoto, known for exhibiting “immense virtuosity and probing musicianship,” is originally from Marietta, Georgia. Concertmaster of the Richmond Symphony since 2013, he has been featured as a soloist on several occasions since his arrival, including a performance of the Theme from Schindler’s List for the Holocaust Remembrance Concert, which was broadcast statewide. Other performances include Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, Ravel’s Tzigane and Vivaldi’s “Autumn” from The Four Seasons. Before coming to Richmond he was a member of the New World Symphony. While at New World, he soloed with the orchestra, performing Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy. He has also collaborated with Jaime Laredo in a performance of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins. He was also hand-picked by Michael Tilson Thomas to participate in the Thomashefsky Project, an homage to Tilson Thomas’s grandparents who were pioneers of the American Yiddish Theater. The project was recorded for DVD and was aired on PBS Great Performances. He was also invited to Medellín, Colombia, where he led sectionals and masterclasses as well as performed Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Medellín.  

An avid orchestral performer, he has performed with many orchestras across the US, including The Cleveland Orchestra on numerous occasions both on tour and in Cleveland, New World Symphony, and the Spokane Symphony. As a concertmaster, he has led the New World Symphony on several occasions both at the New World Center and the Adrienne Arsht Center, Louisville Symphony Orchestra, Spokane Symphony, Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, and the Blossom Festival Orchestra. His performances have taken him to many great concerts halls in America and Europe, including Carnegie Hall, Severance Hall, Benaroya Hall, Suntory Hall, Festspielhaus and the KKL Luzern Concert Hall. 

Veteran music educator Walter Bitner joined the Symphony to oversee its Education initiatives, including school-based programs and the Symphony’s Youth Orchestras, as well as its Community Engagement Programs anchored by the “Big Tent.” Walter joins the Symphony after a successful five-year stint in a similar role as Director of Education and Community Engagement for the Nashville Symphony, in Nashville, where he established its award-winning Accelerando program. He has also served as Director of Choral and Orchestral programs with the Nashville School of the Arts and founded the Music City Youth Orchestra. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Charter Oak State College in New Britain, CT and teacher certification training at Belmont University in Nashville.