Piano Duo Sakamoto

Aya Sakamoto and Risa Sakamoto, piano.

The Japanese sisters Aya and Risa Sakamoto have been playing together as a piano duo since 1999. Among their awards at major international competitions are the third prize and the audience prize at the 70th ARD International Music Competition in Munich. Piano Duo Sakamoto won numerous prizes at important national and international competitions including the first prize with special prizes at the 32nd PTNA Competition in the Junior division (Tokyo, 2015), the second prize and Steinway award at the 20th International Piano Duo Competition (Tokyo, 2016), the first prize and three special prizes at the International Piano Duo Competition (Białystok, 2018), and the first prize at the International Franz Schubert Piano Duo Competition (Jeseník, 2019). They have already given a lot of solo and duo recitals, chamber music concerts, and participating at diverse music festivals throughout Japan, Germany, Austria, Poland and the USA. They also appeared in professional orchestras. Both of them studied the Master degree at the Tokyo University of the Arts under the class of professor Kei Itoh. They received important inspiration through lessons from Shinichiro Kato, and in 2019 began their master's degree in piano duo at the University of Music and Theatre in Rostock, Germany with professors Hans-Peter Stenzl and Volker Stenzl.  During their studies they also received lessons from the piano duo Olha Chipak - Oleksiy Kushnir. They receive a scholarship from the Familie-Rahe Foundation.

https://www.pianoduosakamoto.com/