Heiichiro Ohyama was born in Kyoto, Japan, and studied violin and chamber music at the Toho Music High School and College. He graduated from London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1970. He then attended Indiana University, where he studied viola with William Primrose; violin with Josef Gingold, Ruggiero Ricci, and Franco Gulli; and chamber music with János Starker and Menahem Pressler. He later taught at Indiana University as a visiting lecturer.

In 1974, Ohyama won the Young Concert Artists International Audition Award in New York, and, having appeared at the Marlboro Music Festival for several summers beginning in 1972, he became increasingly in demand as a violist throughout the United States and abroad. In 1979, he was appointed principal viola of the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Music Director Carlo Maria Giulini, a position he held for 13 years. In 1981, he began conducting the Youth String Orchestra of the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences. In 1983, he was appointed music director and conductor of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra. In 1987, he was appointed assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic by Music Director André Previn.

Ohyama’s experience includes being the founding artistic director of the La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest from 1986 to 1997; artistic director of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival from 1991 to 1997; principal chief conductor of the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra in Fukuoka, Japan, from 1999 to 2004 and the Osaka Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2008; and music director of the Nagasaki Music Festival from 2007 to 2009. He was also a professor of music at the University of California from 1973 to 2003. In 2005, he received the Fukuoka City Cultural Prize, and in 2008, he received the Outstanding Performance Award from the Japanese government. In 2014, the City of Santa Barbara recognized him for his artistic contribution.

Heiichiro Ohyama currently serves as artistic director of Music Dialogue in Japan, artistic director and music director of the Lobero Theatre Chamber Music Festival in Santa Barbara, and artistic director of the Chanel Pygmalion Chamber Music Series in Tokyo.