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Blind since birth, Nobuyuki Tsujii was joint Gold Medal winner at the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. An inspirational musician with a formidable technique and a natural gift for pianistic colour, he has earned international recognition in recent years for the excitement of his live performances. As a concerto soloist he has appeared with the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, the Philharmonia Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy, the BBC Philharmonic and Yutaka Sado and the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and Thierry Fischer among others.  Future engagements include his Carnegie Hall orchestral debut with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, his debut with the Seattle Symphony under Ludovic Morlot and a major Japanese tour with the BBC Philharmonic, Yutaka Sado conducting. As a recitalist he gave a sold-out solo performance at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium in 2011, and has also given recitals at the Aspen and Ravinia Festivals and in Washington D.C, Boston, Berlin and Munich. In his home country he has appeared as a soloist with all the major Japanese orchestras including NHK Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, Japan Philharmonic and Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa. He records exclusively for Avex Classics, and has made a number of best-selling discs in

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Blind since birth, Nobuyuki Tsujii was joint Gold Medal winner at the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

An inspirational musician with a formidable technique and a natural gift for pianistic colour, he has earned international recognition in recent years for the excitement of his live performances.

As a concerto soloist he has appeared with the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, the Philharmonia Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy, the BBC Philharmonic and Yutaka Sado and the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and Thierry Fischer among others.  Future engagements include his Carnegie Hall orchestral debut with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, his debut with the Seattle Symphony under Ludovic Morlot and a major Japanese tour with the BBC Philharmonic, Yutaka Sado conducting.

As a recitalist he gave a sold-out solo performance at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium in 2011, and has also given recitals at the Aspen and Ravinia Festivals and in Washington D.C, Boston, Berlin and Munich.

In his home country he has appeared as a soloist with all the major Japanese orchestras including NHK Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, Japan Philharmonic and Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa. He records exclusively for Avex Classics, and has made a number of best-selling discs in recent years including Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 with DSO Berlin, an all-Chopin recital disc, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with Yukata Sado and the BBC Philharmonic, and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.  A live DVD recording of his 2011 Carnegie Hall recital has recently been released and is distributed by Naxos in the US and Euroarts in Europe.

Nobuyuki Tsujii’s international tours are supported by All Nippon Airways (ANA), and he gratefully acknowledges their assistance.

October 2012.  Use of any previously dated biographies is not authorised. Please contact IMG Artists if you wish to edit this biography in any way.

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Reviews

"There are moments when this young man could easily take his place alongside legendary Lisztians...such is the nobility and breadth of his conception. I always rejoice in the surge and passion of this music, but I can't remember being as moved as I was here... Tsujii is as grand and glittering as one could wish for..."

MusicWeb International

"The Prokofiev [Piano Concerto No. 3] is percussive and highly complex rhythmically, and Tsujii played it with great precision - a remarkable achievement. "

Bachtrack

"Nobuyuki Tsujii maintained a dizzying momentum, particularly in the outer movements… the second movement’s barbaric qualities were finely observed"

Classicalsource

"[Nobuyuki Tsujii] played steadily and flawlessly, his soft touch, diamond cutter’s precision, richness of sound and virtuoso performing manner all attesting to the fact that this gifted young man forms part of the new generation of brilliant young Japanese performers. (translated from Russian)"

Orpheus Radio - Russian State TV/Radio centre

"...clearly the piece holds no terror for Tsujii...it only takes a few seconds to understand that this is no one-trick wannabe but an artist of considerable substance and style. There's colour, there's brio and there's humour, and it leaves one slack-jawed in wonderment. "

MusicWeb International

"lt's almost beyond imagining that he has learned scores as formidable as Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto and Beethoven‘s Hammerklavier Sonata by ear...Through all three rounds, he played with unfailing assurance, and his unforced, utterly natural Chopin E minor Piano Concerto was an oasis of loveliness..."

The Dallas Morning News

"Not surprisingly, the atmosphere in the hall is electric, the applause thunderous; and so it should be, for it's a truly epic reading of this great score...I'm now utterly convinced Nobuyuki Tsujii is that rarest of creatures, a unique and precious talent that marries technical prowess with daunting levels of insight and flair... A profound and bewitching talent; inspiring in every way."

MusicWeb International

"It is remarkable that [Nobu] has attained an impressive technique that enables him to navigate the keyboard confidently and accurately in difficult repertory. "

The New York Times

"Nobu gave a near-flawless account of Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto with the on-form BBC Philharmonic conducted by Yutaka Sado. He began his opening solo somewhat tentatively, but he was soon in his stride and was clearly enjoying the occasion. "

Bachtrack

"There's terrific weight and thrust to Tsujii's playing here, and his articulation is always impressive. Most revealing is the sense of liberation, of a piece broken out of amber and allowed to move and breathe in the most natural and instinctive way. "

MusicWeb International

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Discography

  • Nobuyuki Tsujii

    Carnegie Hall Debut Live

  • Nobuyuki Tsujii

    Nobuyuki Tsujii Live at Carnegie Hall (DVD)

  • Nobuyuki Tsujii

    Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

  • Nobuyuki Tsujii

  • Nobuyuki Tsujii

  • Nobuyuki Tsujii

    My Favorite Chopin

  • Nobuyuki Tsujii

    A surprise in Texas, the thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition

  • Nobuyuki Tsujii

    2009

  • Nobuyuki Tsujii

    2009

  • Nobuyuki Tsujii

    Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.2 2008

  • Nobuyuki Tsujii

    Suntory Hall Live 2008 (DVD) 2008

  • Nobuyuki Tsujii

    Debut 2007