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Mr. Shohei Sekimoto (piano)
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Mr. Shohei Sekimoto and Mr. Takashi Yamamoto have each received fourth place awards at the 15th International Chopin Piano Competition. They were among twelve finalists participating in the competition's concluding rounds, held at the National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw, October 18-21, 2005. Asians were prominent in the finals, comprising eight of the twelve competitors (four from Japan, three from South Korea and one from China).
The grand prize winner of the competition was Mr. Rafal Blechacz of Poland, who also captured three special prizes.
The International Chopin Piano Competition, open to young pianists, is held once every five years. Competitors from Japan have won prizes at every competition since it was held for the 10th time in 1980. This year was the second time, since 1990, that two Japanese pianists have won prizes in the same year of this competition.
Following is the complete list of awards received at the competition. |
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Mr. Sekimoto started the piano at the age of five. He received prizes in the PTNA Piano Competition starting from the gold prize in level B (1995), bronze prize in level C (1996), silver prize in level D (1997), silver prize in level E (1998), gold prize in level G (2000), and the grand prize in the concerto division (2001), playing the Piano Concerto No.1 by Liszt.
Mr. Sekimoto is the winner of 1998 third annual KOBE international student competition A-division, receiving the Hyogo mayor prize. In the same year, he played with the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra.
He is the 2000 gold prizewinner of the first annual Chopin International Piano Competition in ASIA, high school division, and was invited to play for the workshop of the 14th Chopin International Competition in Warsaw. The same year, he appeared on the stage of Carnegie Hall in New York (Weill Recital Hall), and the Steinway Hall.
March of 2001, Mr. Sekimoto made his debut by playing his first solo recital. On May of 2002 he had his solo recital in New York, and in Japan, he also took part in the series of "Teenage Artists Series Vol.13 ", sponsored by PTNA in December. He performed the Rachmaninoff's second suite for two pianos with pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk.
Mr. Sekimoto is the 2003-year grand prix winner of the special grade of the 27th annual PTNA Piano Competition, also receiving the audience prize, Minister of Education and Science prize, special mention prize, Japan Philharmonic prize, Oji prize, Mikimoto prize, Mitsui home prize, and the Yomiuri Shimbun prize. Moreover, he received the first annual Yasuko Fukuda prize.
In November of the same year, he earned fourth prize in the fifth Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, and successfully performed with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Naoto Otomo.
In the year 2004, Mr. Sekimoto played in numerous concerts, such as the concert in Cortot Hall (Paris) in January, and the Oji Prize Recital in February. He was on stage with Kenichiro Kobayashi conducting the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in April, and in May with the Yomiuri Japan Symphony.
He won second prize in the Cantu International Competition held in Italy, and participated in the Verbier Festival and Academy held in Switzerland. In August, he was the laureate for the eighth annual Matsukata Hall Music Award, and was chosen as scholar for the Rohm Foundation Scholarship.
2005, Mr. Sekimoto gained the gold prize in the sixth Chopin International Piano Competition in Asia, and performed with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. He performed recitals in Kobe, Chiba, Iwata, and Musashino as well.
He was the unanimous winner in the Morocco International Competition.
His teachers include Chikako Inagaki, Mikhail Voskresenski, Marian Levitsky and Jacques Rouvier. He has been Yuko Ninomiya's pupil since he is fourteen years old.
Mr. Sekimoto graduated the music department of Toho Women's High School in March of 2004, and graduated the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris in June 2005.
In October 2005, He won the 4th prize at The 15th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
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