Evermay Concert Series

BIOGRAPHY

Ryo Yanagitani

Piano

Ryo Yanagitani has distinguished himself as one of Canada's most promising young concert artists. His most recent success includes winning the gold medal at the 10th San Antonio International Piano Competition, where he was also given special recognition for a performance of the complete Chopin Ballades. Among other honors, he is also the grand prize winner of the Hugo Kauder International Piano competition and a laureate of the Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition, the Dr. Luis Sigall International Piano competition in Vina del Mar (Chile), and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.

Ryo has made concerto appearances with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and the Moroccan Symphony Orchestra among others.

In addition to many solo recitals, he has been in demand as a chamber musician, performing in a wide range of settings, from the duo sonata repertoire to large ensembles. He is frequently invited as guest pianist to chamber music festivals across the US, in the capacity of both lecturer and pianist. His most recent collaboration with cellist Dai Miyata has resulted in a number of concert tours of Japan.

A recipient of many scholarships and awards, Ryo has been endowed twice by the Canadian Arts Council with a grant as an Emerging Artist, and is a recipient of the Arthur Foote Scholarship from the Harvard Musical Association. He was also recently awarded the Sony Foundation of America Career Grant through the Salon de Virtuosi of New York, and a Washington Award by the S&R Foundation of Washington DC. He has also been an artist-in-residence of the Maxwell Shepherd Fund of Connecticut. Ryo is also increasingly recognized not only as a performer but also as a pedagogue, and is frequently asked to adjudicate competitions and conduct masterclasses in North America and Asia. He has also recently released two solo CDs consisting of works by Chopin and Debussy, as well as a CD in collaboration with the cellist Dai Miyata.

Ryo Yanagitani received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music under Boris Berman, a Bachelor Degree in Piano Performance from the University of British Columbia under Doctor Henri-Paul Sicsic, and an Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute under Sergei Babayan. He was an instructor for the Chamber Music Program at Yale, as well as a visiting Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver for the 2011/2012 academic year. He currently holds the post of Artistic Director of the Ryuji Ueno Foundation.