Pianists of the masterclasses 2022

Naoko Sonoda

University of Arts Berlin (UdK)

Naoko Sonoda studied at the Toho Gakuen Academy of Music in Tokyo and later at the University of the Arts, Berlin with Rainer Becker. Chamber music was always at the core of her musical life and development and her collaborations with great artists such as Tabea Zimmermann, Markus Nyikos and Hartmut Rohde were fundamental in mentoring her musical development.

Since 2009, Sonoda has taught at the University of the Arts and since 2012 also at the Academy of Music "Hanns Eisler" in Berlin. Her numerous successes at international competitions have enabled her to establish a career as a concert pianist and chamber musician throughout Europe and Asia.

Masterclass: Danjulo Ishizaka

Website: www.naokosonoda.com

Yukie Takai

University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart

Following previous studies at the Toho-Gakuen Music Academy in Tokyo with Prof. Tsunemi Naraba and the Academy of Music, Freiburg with Prof. Hiroko Tsuruoka-Barth and Prof. Helmut Barth, Takai completed her musical education with Prof. André Marchand at the Stuttgart Academy of Music.

Alongside her activities at the Music Academies in Freiburg and Stuttgart, Takai has established herself as a much in demand répétiteur, not only at elite competitions (Geneva, ARD etc) but also at festivals and masterclasses throughout the world. As a soloist and chamber musician she performs regularly both at home and abroad and has been broadcasted on SWR and BR.

Masterclass: Natalie Clein

Mana Oguchi

University of Music Hanns Eisler berlin

Mana Oguchi was born in Sapporo, Japan and has been studying the piano since the age of three. She studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts and Music Tokyo with Prof. Kei Itoh and the Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media with Prof.Karl-Heinz Kammerling. She completed the ‘Artistic Education’ course and she studied for her master’s degree, including Chamber Music, with Professor Markus Becker. She received a scholarship from the YAMAHA music foundation, the DAAD foundation and the Japanese Government.

Mana is highly valued as both a soloist and chamber musician and has performed in Japan and throughout Europe. As a soloist she has played with the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of Wernigerode, the Festival Orchestra concert of the International Concert Society Bodensee, and Yokohama City Philhamonic in Japan. Mana has appeared in the Budapest Frühlings Festival in Hungary and she has performed at the Chamber Music Festival of HMTMH. She has a lot of concerts as soloist, accompanist and chamber music extensively in Japan, and also in Germany, England and Holland. She has performed as an accompanist at the International Festival of Young Violin Masters Lindau, the International Konzertarbeitswochen in Goslar, the IMAS International Music Academy in Germany, the International Holland Music Sessions.

Mana teaches at the Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media and the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin.

Masterclass: Arto Noras

Website: www.manaoguchi.com

Chifuyu Yada

University of Music Munich

Born in Japan, Chifuyu Yada began to learn the piano at the age of four. Later she studied in Munich with Prof. Gerhard Oppitz and in Saarbrücken with Prof. Nerine Barrett and Prof. Bernd Glemser, during which time she was a prizewinner at the Walter-Gieseking Competition.

Following her studies, Chifuyu Yada joined the faculty at the Academy of Music in Saarland and in 1995 changed to the Academy of Music and the Performing Arts, Munich, whereshe teaches since 2008. Alongside her regular performances as a soloist and chamber musician she can also be heard on CD and radio broadcasts from SR, HR, MDR and BR.

Masterclass: Wen-Sinn Yang

Kiyoko Wakamatsu

Rostock University of Music and Theatre

The Japanese pianist Kiyoko Wakamatsu graduated from the Toho Gakuen Academy of Music in Tokyo, before studying with Peter Roggenkamp at the Lübeck Academy of Music, where she completed her post-graduate diploma in accompaniment and chamber music. During this time she augmented her education through participating in masterclasses with Arie Verdi, Vitalij Margulis und Andrzej Jasinski.

Since 2011, Wakamatsu assists Prof. Julian Steckel as répétiteur at the Academy of Music in Rostock, where she has been teaching since 1999. As a répétiteur and accompanist she has performed at internationally renowned masterclasses and competitions, including the Rostropovich Competition in Paris, and the German Music Competition.

Masterclass: Claudio Bohórquez

Yoko Kuwahara

University of Music Lübeck

Yoko Kuwahara was born in Japan. She graduated from Toho Gakuen Highschool of Music and studied with Prof. Keiko Tekeuchi and Prof. Ikuyo Nakamichi at the Toho Gakuen Academy of Music in Tokyo. In 2013, she continued her studies at the Musikhochschule Lübeck with Prof. Konstanze Eickhorst, successfully passed the master's examination in 2016 and in 2019 after her training with Prof. Inge-Susann Römhild the Master of Music Korrepetition .

As a concert pianist, she gives numerous concerts in Japan, Belgium, France, Italy, Israel and Germany and performs as Soloist and also  chamber music.

Since 2017 and 2019, she is faculty as accompanist at the Musikhochschule Lübeck and at the Hochschule für Musik und Theatre Rostock in several instrumental classes.

Masterclass: Natalie Clein

Dunja Robotti

University of Music Nuremberg

Born in Brussels to an Italian father and a German mother, Dunja Robotti began her Piano studies at the Brussels Conservatory. She finished at the UdK in Berlin under the tutelage of Hans Leygraf and Georg Sava, also attending courses in Lied interpretation.

For several years Dunja Robotti was a collaborative pianist for the cello classes at the UdK before becoming head collaborative pianist for strings at the Nuremberg University of Music in 2009.

2016 she was given a charge professorship. She is also leading the course „Master Korrepetition Instrumental“. Her services as Piano Partner are in great demand.

Masterclass: Jakob Spahn

Webseite: www.dunjarobotti.com