Riito Shimata

Born in Düsseldorf, Germany and raised in Takarazuka, Hyogo, Japan. He started studying at Yamaha Music School at the age of 4 and completed the Junior Specialty Course Research Class. After attending Nishinomiya High School of Music in Hyogo Prefecture, he is currently enrolled in the Department of Instrumental Music at Tokyo University of the Arts, majoring in piano. He is a Yamaha Music Support Scholarship recipient.

Major awards include the highest prize and audience prize at the 33rd Pozzuoli International Piano Competition. He won the second prize and the audience's prize at the 21st Tokyo Music Competition. He also received the Nomura Prize, the Aiko Iguchi Prize, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation Award, and the Japan Post Insurance Incentive Award, as well as the Hyogo Prefecture Yuzuriha Prize from the Hyogo Prefectural Board of Education. He won the first prize at the 3rd Piano Competition of the University of the Arts. He also won the second prize in the E category at the 2nd Wiener Danubia Piano Talents Competition.

He has studied piano with Fumiko Fukuo, Sumiko Ikeda, and the late Ayako Kimura; chamber music with Megumi Ito, Kenji Watanabe, Ichiro Nohira, Yosuke Saito, Shin Takashi Suzuki, and Hiroyuki Kato; finger training with Mayumi Kato; and composition with Kyoko Hasegawa. He is currently studying piano with Chiharu Sakai, Yusuke Kikuchi, and Evgeny Zarafianz.

https://riitoshimata.com