NORITAKA ITO-Piano

Japanese pianist Noritaka Ito spent his childhood in Hiroshima. In 2002, he moved to Europe, where he graduated with diplomas from the Amsterdam Conservatory and Berlin’s Hochschule fuer Musik "Hanns Eisler".

Ito first came to prominence when he won First Prize in the 2004 “Citta di Valentino” International Piano Competition in Italy and also First Prize in the 2017 Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition in U.S.A.. Since then, he has performed extensively in Japan, East Asia, the United States, and Europe, for recital, chamber music, and concerto appearances. His performances have been written about in The New York Times, The New Yorker Magazine and Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. His recitals have been broadcast on various radio stations including Berlin-Brandenburg Radio, and he has been acclaimed by critics as “He plays with great delicacy. The tone was also beautiful, and it was expressive from ff to pp. Indeed, he is of exceptional talent and is certain to have a fruitive future.”

His debut recording of Liszt’s solo piano arrangement of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony coupled with Fantasia on an Ostinato by John Corigliano was chosen by Ongaku-Gendai Magazine as one of the recommended Recordings of the Month.  His second CD, with Trio ku (contemporary ensemble), was released in Germany on the Kreuzberg Records label. Other recordings include Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Brahms’ Piano Sonata No.3.  His recordings are available worldwide on iTunes, amazonMP3, and other download services.

Ito currently lives in Hiroshima and is one of the youngest faculty members at Elisabeth University of Music and Fukuyama Heisei University.

noritakaito.com