Keitaro Shimizu was born in Hamamatsu, Japan. After completing his bachelor's degree at Aichi University of Arts in Japan, he moved to Germany to study at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar. Under the direction of Professor Uwe Komischke, he began his career as a trainee at the Mitteldeutsches Kammerorchester already during his studies.
Soon he got a substitute contract at the Staatskapelle Halle, which was then followed by short-term contracts at the Staatskapelle Weimar and the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki. After all these short-term contracts, he eventually managed to get a permanent contract as first trumpeter with the Göttinger Symphony Orchestra in Germany, just as he finished his master's studies in Weimar.
After working for two seasons in Göttingen, he decided to move to Stockholm and has been working in the Royal Swedish Orchestra since August 2019. In addition to working at the Opera, he often plays with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm as a substitute and he is also active as a baroque trumpeter. He has, for example, participated in recording with the Thüringer Bach Collegium, Camerata Lipsiensis. His playing is largely influenced by Professor Uwe Komischke, Hiro Noguchi and Takaya Hattori. His baroque trumpet style is particularly inspired by Juhani Listo and Rupprecht Drees.
