Kotaro Fukuma is fabulous Artist
...and a Prince among peers.
"Kotaro Fukuma manages to combine spontaneity, clarity, rhythmic precision, intellectual rigor, thoughtfulness and internalized singing in a single action." -Pizzicato
Born in Tokyo, Kotaro Fukuma began learning piano at the age of five and has received many high awards in international competitions, including the Arthur Rubinstein, Tel Aviv; Paloma O’Shea, Santander; Maj Lind, Helsinki; BNDES, Rio De Janeiro; and Gina Bachauer, Salt Lake City. In 2003, at the age of 20, Kotaro won both First Prize and the Chopin Prize at the 15th Cleveland International Piano Competition. Since then his concert career has developed on five continents (North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia).
Mr.Fukuma has performed in major concert venues, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, New York City; Wigmore Hall, London; Philharmonie and Konzerthaus, Berlin; Gewandhaus, Leipzig; Salle Gaveau, Paris; Victoria Hall, Geneva; Auditorio Nacional, Madrid; Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing; and Suntory Hall and Opera City, Tokyo.
His performances with orchestras include the Cleveland Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Lille National Orchestra, Galicia Royal Philharmonic and NHK Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of such conductors as Yuri Simonov, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, François-Xavier Roth, Asher Fisch, Hannu Lintu, Juanjo Mena, Jahja Ling, Mihhail Gerts and Kazuki Yamada. Beginning of July 2016, with 24h-notice he stepped in for Nelson Freire to perform Brahms’ Piano Concerto No.2 with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, conducted by Tugan Sokhiev.
Passionate about contemporary music, Kotaro has performed world and national premieres of works by Toru Takemitsu, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Renaud Gagneux, Thierry Escaich, Thierry Huillet, Peter Klatzow, Mutsuo Shishido, Minako Tokuyama and Yuka Takechi.
Kotaro Fukuma has released seventeen commercial CDs by the following labels; Naxos, DENON, ARS produktion, Editions Hortus, Orpheus Classical, Accustika, Esprit du Piano, and has received critical acclaim in such music magazines as Gramophone, Diapason, American Music Records, Monde de la Musique, Classica, BR Klassik and Classic Today.
Kotaro studied music at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Bruno Rigutto and Marie-Françoise Bucquet, then at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Klaus Hellwig and at the International Piano Academy Lake Como in Italy. He also has studied with several great masters of the piano, including Leon Fleisher, Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Alicia de Larrocha, Maria Joao Pires, Leslie Howard and Aldo Ciccolini.
In 2020, Kotaro Fukuma released his first all-Beethoven album, which was highly acclaimed in Japan and Europe. However, the CD release commemorative concert and other concerts since last spring were postponed or canceled one after another around the world due to the Corona disaster. In the midst of this uncertainty, his heart naturally sought Bach's music. The arrangements chosen were "faithful to Bach's music" by great pianists who have left their mark on history. The chorales are soothing, the chaconnes and passacaglias soaring like mountains, and Fukuma's own famous aria from the "Matthew Passion".... The final chorale gently closes this dramatic piece, full of great ups and downs, and fills the audience with a deep and peaceful reverberation.
The Japanese musician Kotaro Fukuma is one of today's most outstanding pianists. He has received many major awards in international competitions, including the Arthur Rubinstein (Tel Aviv), Maj Lind (Helsinki) or Gina Bachauer (Salt Lake City). He won both the First Prize and the Chopin Prize at the 15th Cleveland International Piano competition in 2003. The forthcoming album France Romance is Kotaro Fukumas homage to France, where he studied with Bruno Rigutto and Marie-Françoise Bucquet. He selected pieces linked to important experiences in his piano life.