Suzuki was born in
Kobe to parents who were both Protestant
Christians Suzuki has as an adult joined the
Reformed Church in Japan, a
Calvinist denomination. He has also begun recording a cycle of Bach's organ music for the BIS label; the first release was in 2015. Suzuki has also, with the Bach Collegium Japan, recorded the
Requiem of
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and choral music of
Johann Rudolf Ahle,
Georg Frideric Handel,
Jan Dismas Zelenka,
Heinrich Schutz,
Johann Kuhnau,
Marco Giuseppe Peranda, and others. As a soloist he has recorded music of
Dietrich Buxtehude and
Francois Couperin, among others. He and the Bach Collegium Japan have also recorded the
Ninth Symphony of
Ludwig van Beethoven in the arrangement by
Wagner that replaces the orchestra with a solo piano, which is played on the recording by pianist
Noriko Ogawa. With his brother, the baroque cello virtuoso
Hidemi Suzuki, he has recorded chamber music by
George Frideric Handel and others. Suzuki is the founder of the early music department at the
Tokyo University of the Arts and taught there until 2010. He is now Principal Guest Conductor of the
Yale Schola Cantorum and Visiting Professor of Choral Conducting at
Yale University As a guest conductor, Suzuki has led the
Academy of Ancient Music, the
New York Philharmonic,
Boston Symphony Orchestra,
San Francisco Symphony,
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra,
Danish National Symphony,
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin,
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment,
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra,
Rotterdam Philharmonic,
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart,
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra,
Philharmonia Baroque,
Collegium Vocale Gent,
Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic,
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and
Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich. ==Awards and honors==