ARTIST: PIANO

Tomoki Kitamura

Born in Aichi (Japan) and based in Berlin, Tomoki Kitamura’s solo career was launched when he won 1st prize and the Grand Jury Prize at the prestigious Tokyo Music Competition, soon to be followed by prizes at international piano competitions including Hamamatsu, Sydney, Leeds, and Beethoven Competition (Bonn). In early 2025, he was named “Best Emerging Classical Artist of 2024” in Japan in the Japanese cultural ministry’s 75th “Art Selection Award”.

Appearing regularly in the major concert halls in Europe and Japan, he is a multifaceted artist much sought after for the poetic expressivity of his interpretations, and his meticulously conceived recital programs on piano and fortepiano, and a vast collection of concertos. He is also a highly respected chamber musician.

Many of his recent activities and interpretations also center around contemporary music, while drawing inspiration from his interest in historical performance practice. His performances of the works by Cage, Holliger, Nono, Takemitsu, Hosokawa, among others, have met with great acclaim, and a special recital program he curated in 2022, exploring the piano music of Japanese composers from the 1950s and ‘70s, was awarded the Keizo Saji Prize - the most authoritative music prize of this genre in Japan. His seven solo-albums to date, with repertoire spanning classical to contemporary CDs, all received excellent reviews and accolades.

Kitamura studied piano with Prof. Kei Itoh, Prof. Ewa Pobłocka, and Prof. Rainer Becker. After receiving his Diplom with the Distinction from Universität der Künste Berlin in 2017, he continued his research focusing on historical interpretation practice with Prof. Jesper Christensen at Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main.