Toyohiko Satoh was born on November 4, 1943, in Fukuyama, Hiroshima. At Rikkyo University in Tokyo he studied music history with Tatsuo Minagawa and guitar with Kazuhito Ohosawa. At Rikkyo he also began studying the lute. In 1968 he came to Europe and studied lute with Eugen Müller-Dombois at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland. From 1973 to 2004 he was a professor at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Netherlands.

In 1970 he recorded the first LP devoted entirely to solo Baroque lute, and has since recorded extensively for Philips, Telefunken, EMI, Harlekijn, and Channel Classics Records. One of his recordings won the Edison Prize. He has taken part in over 50 ensemble recordings with artists such as Gustav Leonhardt, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and Elly Ameling. His 1987 book, Method for the Baroque Lute, is widely used. He also advocated gut strings with no metal admixture and historically accurate performance techniques.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyohiko_Satoh
• https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7830664