1955年生於日本大阪市。福田進一從11歲起和斎藤達也(1942-2006)學習古典吉他，於1977年前往法國，師事Alberto Ponce 和 Oscar Gilia。福田曾榮獲多項國際吉他大賽的桂冠，其中最為重要的有1981年舉世著名的「巴黎國際吉他大賽」。在隨後的38年中，福田的活動從未間斷，包括獨奏音樂會，與主要樂團共同演出以及與頂尖演奏家一起演奏，他已經受邀到數十個國家的主要城市舉辦獨奏會、大師班和擔任評審，2007年福田獲頒日本外交部「外務大臣獎」、2011年「日本文化廳最高殊榮藝術獎」，他是日本史上第一位獲此殊榮的吉他音樂家。
福田進一無疑是當代吉他界最頂尖的名家之一，充滿能量的炫技演奏、流暢細膩的音樂風格，充滿驚人的說服力及深刻的情感駕馭。福田不斷地嚐試嶄新的演奏活動，嘆為觀止的豐富曲目，從重新發現19世紀的吉他音樂到當代音樂，他對無邊界音樂的詮釋更是吸引了世界各地的樂迷。自1980年起，福田發表了許多重要的吉他新作，包括有武滿徹：All in Twilight〈1988〉、皮亞佐拉：探戈的歷史〈1983〉/ 吉他和手風琴協奏曲〈1994〉、布勞艾：奏鳴曲〈1992〉/ 悲歌〈1996提獻給福田進一〉、亞薩：奏鳴曲〈1999提獻給福田進一〉、迪昂斯：Metis 協奏曲〈2001〉、布勞艾：豎琴和影〈2005提獻給福田進一〉、布勞艾的「安魂協奏曲Concerto da Requiem」〈提獻給福田進一〉，2009年12月於臺北國家音樂廳亞洲首演、日本作曲家北爪道夫「青い宇宙の庭 III」協奏曲〈2009〉、布勞艾：旅人的奏鳴曲，2011年與Eduardo Fernandez於巴西世界首演….等。
1984年至今，福田已錄製有100張珍貴、暢銷，受到極高評價的專輯，其中多張獲頒獎項。2003-10年間，福田進一擔任音樂總監，在日本籌劃舉辦了四屆成功的國際吉他音樂節。2017年他發表了自傳文章《Air on Six Strings》。2019年日本賣座電影「日場演奏會散場時」擔任古典吉他指導及音樂監督。
Shin-ichi Fukuda Shin-ichi Fukuda possesses an astonishingly large repertoire that includes solo works, concertos, chamber music, and song accompaniments extending chronologically from Renaissance to 21st century.
Born in Osaka,Japan in 1955, Shin-ichi Fukuda started his musical studies on piano and lateron classical guitar at the age of 11 under the tutelage of the late Maestro Tatsuya Saito (1942-2006). After 10 years of musical education in Japan, he moved to Europe to study at “L’Ecole Normal de la Musique” in Paris with Spanish Maestro Alberto Ponce as part of a course that included musical analysis with, Catalan Composer, Narcis Bonet who was Nadia Boulanger’s main assistant. He graduated from the school in 1978 with the premier prize and aperformer’s diploma. He then traveled to Academia Chigiana in Siena to pursue further studies with Italian Maestro Oscar Ghiglia from1980-84 and graduated with the highest honor.
During his time in Europe, he won major international prizes at the 23rd Paris International Guitar Competition organized by Radio France, the 1st Carpentras International Guitar Competition (south of France), the 4th Gargnano International Guitar Competition (Italy), and the 27th Maria Canals International Music Competition(Barcelona, Spain) followed by 1981 highest honor prize in Classical Guitar world.
After 8 years of enriching musical life in Paris, he moved to Tokyo. Mr. Fukuda performs extensively in his home country and abroad including the United States where he made his debut in New York at the Merk in Concert Hall in the course of his 1992 tour. Mr. Fukuda was awarded many prizes for his outstanding performances in his home country Japan from the best prize for his recital in “Osaka Art Festival Award”, two times winner of “The Award of Work of Art” sponsored by Japanese Agency for Culture Affairs to the Muramatsu’s Newcomer Award “The Best Performer of The year”, two times winner of Shizuoka City Culture Award, Ministery of Foreign Affairs “Prize of the year”, and the 2011 Art Encouragement Prize of Music” from the Japanese government.
For more than three decades he has been giving many premieres of important guitar works, highlights of which include, All in twilight (1988) by Toru Takemitsu, Sonata (1992), and Hika in Memoriam of T. Takemitsu (1996 / dedicated to Fukuda) by Leo Brouwer,Sonata (1999 / dedicated to S. Fukuda) by Sergio Assad, Serenade (2003) by Toshio Hosokawa, El Arpa y La Sombra (2005 / dedicated to Fukuda) by L.Brouwer, and Memory of Waves (2011 / dedicated to Fukuda) by Ichiro Nodaira, among others.
His recent projects included exploration of the nineteenth-century guitar repertoire using period instruments including R.F. Lacote (1840), Guadanini II (1829), and for Romantic repertoire, Antonio de Torres (1884). His performances of modern music and new music in a jazz-fusion idiom have resulted in changing thevery concept of classical guitar music and are drawing worldwide attention to Fukuda’s outstanding musicianship, sense of rhythm and feeling for tonal coloration.
Mr. Fukuda is an enthusiastic teacher with pupils who have gone on to gain the highest honors in their careers. These include young Japanese guitarists, Akiko Saito, Kaori Muraji, Daisuke Suzuki, and Yasuji Ohagi, among many others. A dedicated teacher, Mr. Fukuda’s teaching career spans three decades with regular master classes around the world and multiple positions including guest professor of Shanghai Conservatory (China, since September 2006), guest professor of Osaka Music College (Japan, since April 2011), guest professor of Elisabeth University of Music (Hiroshima, Japan, since April 2014), guest professor of “Alicante Guitar Master” (Alicante University, Spain, since May 2014), and guest professor of Showa Music University (Kanagawa, Japan since April 2015).
A prolific recording artist in his own right, to this day, Mr. Fukuda has released a tota lof 102 albums (includes CDs, LD, DVD & VIDEO) since his record debut in1984. These encompass recordings for Japan Victor Entertainment (during 1984-1994), DENON / Japan Columbia (since 1994), Meister Music (since 2000),and finally NAXOS (since 2012).
New program “Shin-ichi Fukuda - Aria on 6 Strings” starts in September 2020 on OTTAVA classical music station internet radio.
