This successful pianist was born in Japan. He studied piano performance at the University of Music “Mozarteum” in Salzburg. He continued his studies at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and graduated at the University of Music and Drama in Hannover/Germany. The virtuoso pianist is prize winner of several international competitions such as „Citta di Senigallia“, „F. Busoni“ (Bolzano) und „Marguerite Long“ (Paris). More than 50 recitals per year as well as numerous CD productions (i. e. Skrjabin and Mussorgsky) show his artistic activities. Besides his pianistic career Masahi Katayama is in great demand as a pedagogue. First he had a position as an assistant of the well known pianist Andrei Gavrilov after understudying of his sudden illness.