Toshihiro Yonezu won the Prize of Honour and the Bruno Walter Prize (Best Conductor) at the Masterplayers International Conducting Competition in Lugano in 2008. In October 2009, he was one of three finalists at the Victor de Sabata International Conducting Competition in Italy and was subsequently nominated for the Allianz International Conductors’ Academy, an initiative of the Allianz Kulturstiftung in cooperation with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra London, and the South Bank Centre London, in 2010. In 2007, Yonezu received a scholarship for his work from the Agency for Cultural Affairs in Japan.

Guest conducting engagements have included the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Hamamatsu Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo College of Music Symphony Orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovenia RTV Symphony Orchestra, Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra, Rijeka Philharmonic Orchestra in Croatia, Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, and Philharmonia Oltenia in Romania.

On the recommendation of George Pehlivanian, former Music Director of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Yonezu served as assistant to the Music Director from 2006 to 2008.

Yonezu has been an assistant professor at the Tokyo College of Music since 2011.

Toshihiro Yonezu participated in master-level conducting courses at various locations across Europe, including the International Musica Riva Festival in Italy in 2002 and 2003, the Internationale Sommerakademie PRAG–WIEN–BUDAPEST in Austria in 2004, the International Conducting Academy of Portorož in Slovenia in 2005, and the Masterclass of Orchestra Conducting in Portugal in 2010. His teachers in these programs included Isaac Karabtchevsky, Istvan Denes, George Pehlivanian, and Alexander Polishchuk. Following this training, he conducted the Orquestra do Algarve, the Musica Riva Festival Orchestra, the Baden Sinfonietta, and the Dinu Lipatti Orchestra.

Yonezu completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Aichi University of Education, Department of Music, where he studied piano and music education. He later continued his studies in orchestral conducting at the Tokyo College of Music. His conducting teachers included Jun-ichi Hirokami and Kazue Kamiya.