Mayumi Sakamoto

Mayumi Sakamoto is a pianist whose work encompasses solo recitals, concerto appearances, chamber music and lecture concerts in Japan and internationally. She won First Prize at the Cologne International Music Competition and the Grieg International Piano Competition in Norway.

After studying at the Music High School attached to Tokyo University of the Arts, she graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts. A Rohm Music Foundation scholarship supported her further studies at the Hanover University of Music and Drama, where she completed the soloist programme and earned the Konzertexamen.

Her awards also include Second Prize at the Top of the World International Piano Competition and the Andorra International Piano Competition, the highest prize at the Pausilypon International Piano Competition, and prizes at the Scottish and Pinerolo international piano competitions. She received diplomas at the International Tchaikovsky Competition and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

She has appeared with orchestras including the WDR Cologne Radio Orchestra, Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, Karelian State Symphony Orchestra, Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt and New Orchestra of Washington. In Japan, she performed at the 29th Yokohama International Piano Concert. At the invitation of the Wilhelm Kempff Cultural Foundation, she took part in an intensive course on Beethoven interpretation in Positano, Italy.

Her recordings include Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos. 20 and 21 with the WDR Cologne Radio Orchestra conducted by Niklas Willén, and the 2023 album Grieg, featuring the Piano Sonata, Holberg Suite and Lyric Pieces. She has also appeared on television and radio.

Sakamoto teaches at Kyoto City University of Arts, having previously taught at Tokyo University of the Arts and Tokyo College of Music. She is a visiting researcher at Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Medicine and serves as a director of the Music Society of Japan.