Akio Koyama served as principle bassoonist in the Darmstadt State Opera Orchestra, Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra, and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. Since 1990, he has served as the principle bassoonist in the Saito Kinen Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa. As a soloist and chamber music musician, Koyama has performed worldwide with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, North German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian State Opera Orchestra, and German Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Bremen, among others. He was prize winner at the 1979 Ancona International Music Competition in Italy and the 1981 Prague Spring International Music Competition.

Koyama has participated in more than 40 solo, chamber and orchestra recordings. He has appeared on many radio and TV programs worldwide, including NHK Art Theatre and the news program by Tsukushi Tetsuya, and has served on the jury committee of many international music competitions. He has over 25 years of teaching experience. His students have landed orchestral and teaching positions worldwide and won many prestigious international awards from the ARD International Competition and the Prague Spring International Music Competition.

Koyama studied at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music in Japan with Takashi Nishikawa, and Yoshihide Kiryu. He continued his studies at Detmold National Conservatory of Music in Germany with A. Hennige and H. Jung. He was a faculty member at the Trossingen National Conservatory of Music in Germany since 1994.