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I session (August 5-11)

Hironao Suzuki is widely recognized as a pianist carrying on the tradition of the Neuhaus method of the Russian Piano School and also as one of Japan’s leading piano teachers—most of his pupils have won prizes in national and international competitions.

Born in 1978, Mr. Suzuki studied at the Yamaha Music School since the age of three. He further studied at the Yamaha Master Class with the late Vera Gornostaeva, a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, for eight years since the age of 11. He then graduated from Accademia Pianistica “Incontri col Maestro” in Italy. While he was a student, Mr. Suzuki performed in Tokyo, Paris, Milan, and London, among other cities.

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He won a special prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, 6th place at the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition, and 5th place at the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition. In addition, Mr. Suzuki was a finalist at the Clara Haskil International Competition and the International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau, Germany. At the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, he received high acclaim for his solid technique, sense of structure, and rich lyricism. Mr. Suzuki’s determined efforts during the competition were featured in an NHK documentary, which gained a lot of attention when it aired nationwide. He has been extremely active as a pianist since 2004.

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He was chosen to play at the Sai-no-kuni Saitama Arts Center’s “Pianist 100” series, where Murray Perahia and many other outstanding pianists have performed in the past, and he was acclaimed as “an excellent contrast of masculine dynamism and touching lyricism.” In addition to recitals in Italy, France, Germany, and Japan, Mr. Suzuki has performed with the Osaka Symphony Orchestra, the Haydn Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and the Gunma Symphony Orchestra. His recital in Kioi Hall, Tokyo, received good reviews, and the performance was aired on “NHK BShi Classical Music Club” for three consecutive years, rapidly gaining attention from those in the music field. He has also received good reviews for his duo performances with Ayako Uehara and Kazune Shimizu.

 

Mr. Suzuki released two CDs on the Harmony label: Etudes Symphoniques and Rachmaninoff. The late Hiroko Nakamura, a famous and influential pianist in Japan, commented on Mr. Suzuki’s Schumann album with the words, “such elastic phrasing can rarely be heard among Japanese pianists” and called it the “greatest album of all time.” This album received high acclaim from varied sources, including music magazines.

 

Currently, Mr. Suzuki is frequently invited to various master classes as a professor, and holds public lessons and a series of public seminars, which also receive good reviews. In 2018, he is scheduled to be a guest lecturer for the “Intensive Seminar” series hosted by The Piano Teachers’ National Association of Japan, which has featured Bruno Rigutto and Vladimir Tropp in the past. Advertised as “Teachers all over the nation come to learn the pedagogic method from Mr. Suzuki to understand how he became a leading figure in piano pedagogy at such a young age,” the public is looking forward to seeing his innovative teaching methods that combine his own theory with the Russian Piano School of piano pedagogy.

 

Mr. Suzuki was appointed as an overseas artistic research trainee for the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan in the fiscal year of 2002 and served for three years. He has studied with Vera Gornostaeva, Petras Geniusas, Fumiko Eguchi, Jun Kawachi, Takayuki Kuniya, Shinji Urakabe, Franco Scala, Piero Rattalino, Gérard Frémy, Riccardo Risaliti, and Leonid Margarius. He was tremendously influenced by advice from Alexei Nasedkin and Boris Petrushansky, as well.

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After leaving his post as full-time lecturer, Mr. Suzuki is currently a guest associate professor at the Nagoya College of Music and a lecturer at the Special Course of the Yamaha Master Class.

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Hironao Suzuki, Japan

S.Rachmaninov Etudes-tableaux in A minor, op.39, no.6

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