- Michael Adelson, New York Philharmonics

- Frantisek Vajnar, Academy of Fine Arts in Prague

After the dazzling performance of Pierre Boulez's masterwork, Le marteau sans maître, substituting Peter Eötvös' last minute illness, Rei Munakata quickly became recognized as one of the most exciting conductors of his generation.

Munakata is currently the artistic director and the principal conductor of the Curious Chamber Players, a Stockholm based contemporary music ensemble, and has given numerous world premiere performances in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, and United Kingdom. He is also a founding member of ensemble Mimitabu in Göteborg and the conductor of ensemble Scenatet in Århus. He is frequently collaborating with ensemble Gageego! Göteborg, and has worked with many other ensembles including Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen, KammarensembleN Stockholm, and Oslo Sinfonietta.

At home in symphony orchestras, Munakata has conducted Värmland Sinfonietta, Nordic Chamber Orchestra, Hradec Kralove Philharmonics, Adygeya Republic National Symphony Orchestra, Sandviken Symphony Orchestra, Orkestern Filialen, Pro Musica Symphony Orchestra, and Bergslagen Chamber Orchestra. In 2003 he was awarded the Bob Harding Bursary to work with Havant Symphony Orchestra during 2003/2004 season. Munakata has been invited to various music festivals such as Nordic Music Days, Ung Nordiska Musik, Stockholm New Music, Oslo Chamber Music, Siren Göteborg, and SPOR Århus.

Munakata is regularly invited to give workshops in conducting, composition, and orchestral technique in music colleges and schools such as Birmingham Conservatoire of Music, Cambridge University, and Högskolan för Musik och Scen vid Göteborgs Universitet.

Born in Yokohama in 1976, and raised in both Japan and China as his home countires, Munakata currently resides in Sweden and USA. He studied conducting with Michael Adelson at Connecticut College, and Per Andersberg, Jorma Panula, and Cecilia Rydinger-Alin at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Stockholm. He received full-fee scholarship award from Trinity College of Music in London to attend Peter Stark's Postgraduate Diploma Conducting Course in 2002, and was granted the Ricordi Prize in Conducting in June 2003. He also studied with Mark Wigglesworth, Christian Eggen, and Frantisek Vajnar. Rei has received scholarships and grants from institutions such as Konstnärsnämnden, Sven och Dagmar Saléns Siftelse, and Prins Carl Gustavs Stiftelse from the Royal castle of Sweden.