32nd Idemitsu Music Award winners decided

Born on December 20, 2001 in Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture.
In 2022, he won first prize at the Long-Thibaud International Competition, as well as two special awards: the Audience Award and the Critics' Award.
She started playing piano at the age of 4. In 2019, she won first place and the Audience Award in the Piano Division of the 88th Japan Music Competition. She won the Grand Prix and the Audience Award at the 43rd Pitina Piano Competition. In 2022, she won third place at the Maria Canals Barcelona International Music Performance Competition. She was a semi-finalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
He has performed with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra, and others. He has also appeared in many media programs, including TV Asahi's "Untitled Concert Concert" and NHK's "Classic Club." He has studied under Mayuko Aoki, Hideo Sugiura, Hisako Ueno, Michiko Okamoto, and Shoichi Hase. After graduating from the music department of Aichi Prefectural Meiwa High School, he entered Toho Gakuen School of Music as a scholarship student. He is currently a fourth-year student at Toho Gakuen School of Music (as of February 2023). He is a scholarship recipient of the Rohm Music Foundation for 2021 and 2022. 2022 Ezoe Memorial Recruit Foundation Scholarship Recipient.

Born on December 26, 1993 in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.
In 2021, he won fourth place in the piano category of the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition, one of the world's three major music competitions, where he was praised as "an intelligent virtuoso with a wide range of tones" - Standard. In 2016, he won first place and six special awards at the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition (Budapest, Hungary). He is the first Asian male pianist to win the competition in the history of the competition. "It's like an angel is playing!" - Leslie Howard - the judges unanimously declared, and he won the competition overwhelmingly. At the age of just 19, he became the youngest winner at the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He attracted attention with "a flawless performance with a clear touch and graceful speaking style" - Cincinnati Enquirer. He has been highly praised by Ivan Moravec and has received five special awards, including the Ivan Moravec Prize, the Grand Prix at the PTNA Piano Competition and the Audience Award, as well as a special award for his Mozart performance at the Cleveland International Piano Competition. He was also the first Japanese to win first place and the Audience Award at the Kissingen International Piano Olympiad for his Beethoven performance.
He has performed with Leonard Slatkin, Alexander Lazarev, Jan Pascal Tortelier, Vladimir Valek, Andrea Battistoni, Janos Kovács, Sascha Getzel, Stanislav Kočanovsky, Tadaaki Otaka, Eiji Oue, Junichi Hirokami, Kazushi Ono, and others, as well as with the Staatskapelle Halle, Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian State Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgium, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and others. He is also active as a chamber musician, performing with the Tokyo Quartet and the Brentano String Quartet.
He has performed in over 20 countries around the world, including Japan, and has participated in many international music festivals. At the Kremlin Music Festival, Nikolai Petrov praised his all-Liszt program recital as "the best Liszt in the world." At the Cliburn Chopin Festival, his all-Chopin program recital was highly praised, with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram stating, "His virtuosity, natural lyricism, and sincere attitude toward the piano swept the audience into a whirlpool of emotion!" In 2018, he made his recital debut at the prestigious Leipzig Gewandhaus in Germany. In February 2022, he performed and conducted the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra in a piano concerto and the Japanese premiere of Liszt's orchestral works.
In his composing and arranging activities, he was commissioned by the Yokohama Arts Festival Executive Committee to arrange a piece that premiered at the Yokohama Music Festival 2019 Opening Concert (held at the Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall Large Hall). In May 2022, "Sakata Tomoki Piano Arrangements Collection Vocalise" was published by Ongaku No Tomosha.
He made his CD debut in 2015, and released an ambitious album of arrangements, including world premiere recordings, in March 2020. He has also appeared on television, radio, and other media both in Japan and overseas.
After graduating from the Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Music, High School of Music and the same university, he completed his bachelor's and master's degrees with top honors at the University of Music and Drama Hannover, and is currently enrolled in the graduate soloist course at the same university. Since being recognized as the youngest student at the Lake Como International Piano Academy, which continues to produce world-class pianists, he has continued to study in Italy. He has studied under Paul Badura-Skoda for 10 years. He has also studied composition under Masayuki Nagatomi and Nichinori Matsumoto. He received culture/art Encouragement Award at the Yokohama Culture Awards in 2017.

Born October 24, 1988 in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture.
Lives in Vienna. Graduated from Okayama Joto High School, Tokyo University of the Arts, and completed the master's program at the Vienna State University of Music.
Became the first Japanese to win the Vocal Music Division at the 27th Johannes Brahms International Competition, and won first place in the Vocal Music Division at the 87th Japan Music Competition. Won 2nd place in the song category and 3rd place in the opera category at the 56th Dvořák International Vocal Competition. To date, he has performed in numerous concerts at the Vienna Musikverein, Konzerthaus, etc. In 2019, he was selected to play the title role in the 2019 Vienna Philharmonic Summer Academy's ``Fake Gardener'', successfully toured Austria, and sang the national anthem solo at Koshien Stadium at the opening ceremony of the professional baseball All-Star Game. At the 2021 Ettlingen Festival, she played the role of Adele in "Die Fledermaus" and performed the contemporary opera "Zolle" at the Lucerne Theater. In 2022, she made her debut in the title role of "La Traviata" at the Stadt Theater Baden, and at the Lucerne Theater, she played two roles in Dusapin's "Perera - Man of Smoke" as the Queen and Alloro's daughter. At the Tokyo Opera City ``B→C Recital Series'' solo recital, Kaori Morita was commissioned to perform the song series ``Hajimari,'' whose lyrics were written by Misaki Morino, and received attention for its world premiere. In 2023, in addition to appearing for the first time at the NHK New Year Opera Concert, he will debut in the new opera "Electric Dreams" composed by Schlomowitz (premiered in Switzerland) at the Grand Theater in Geneva, and will perform in the new opera "Electric Dreams" composed by Kalitzke at the Neue Opera Wien. In recent years, he has been active as an expert in contemporary music, appearing in "Captain Nemo's Library" (first performed in Vienna), writing lyrics, improvising and reciting with Yuto Kiguchi, and creating a one-of-a-kind performance that incorporates duo arrangements. We are expanding our activities. ROHM Music Foundation scholarship recipient, Agency for Cultural Affairs Overseas Training Program trainee. Recipient of the Goto Memorial Cultural Award: Opera Newcomer Award, the Okayama Arts and Culture Award Grand Prix, the Marusen Sports Culture Award, the Marusen Culture Grand Prize, the Sanyo Shimbun Encouragement Award, the Energia Culture and Sports Foundation Energia Award, and the Fukutake Education and Culture Award. In 2020, released the duo album “Small Gifts” with pianist Yuto Kiguchi.

​

出光音楽賞について
https://www.idemitsu.com/jp/enjoy/culture_art/music_prize/index.html

About "Untitled Concert Concert"
https://www.idemitsu.com/jp/enjoy/culture_art/daimei/index.html