Aimi Kobayashi

“Perfect technique, a light touch, fast, and virtuosic.”

Fourth Prize winner of the 18th Chopin Piano Competition, Aimi Kobayashi garnered international acclaim for her exceptional talent. She is considered one of the most sought-after pianists of her generation in Japan.

Aimi was born in 1995 in Ube, Japan. She started playing the piano at age three, made her concerto debut at age eight, and began her international career at age nine. She studied with Meng-Chieh Liu at the Curtis Institute of Music.

In 2009, she won the Junior Section prize at the Asia-Pacific International Chopin Piano Competition in Korea. In 2011, she was awarded the gold medal at the Asia International Chopin Competition for her performance in the concerto section, and in the same year, she won the Yasuko Fukuda Prize. In 2012, she won third prize at the Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Piano Competition.

She gave her first recital at Carnegie Hall for the Japan NYC Festival, of which Seiji Ozawa was the musical director, before performing a recital at Tokyo Opera City the following month.

She has already performed with several major orchestras, both in Japan and overseas, including the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century under Frans Bruggen and the Moscow Virtuosi under Vladimir Spivakov. In Japan, she regularly performs with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, and the New Japan Philharmonic.

She has recorded works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt for Warner Classics. In 2015, she became one of the ten finalists at the 17th Chopin Piano Competition, chosen from 452 entrants across 45 countries. In July 2019, she performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466, with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège under Christian Arming. In March 2020, she performed Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich under Kristiina Poska.

In October 2024, she performed Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under Krzysztof Urbański. In November 2024, she played Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, with Tugan Sokhiev conducting the Münchner Philharmoniker.

Her latest recording is "Schubert" (2024) from Warner Classics.

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