Ai Kayukawa

Pianist (Japan)

 Ai Kayukawa was born in Gifu, Japan in 1984, and began leaning piano at age of Three under the guidance of Keiko Kachi. She studied at Kano high school (music course) with Kazuo Nagano and Shozo Tsubota, and in 2002 graduated with honorable distinctions 1st Dante Ito Prize. Between 2002 and 2008, she studied at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with Koichi Yamashiro, Kikuko Ogura (fortepiano), and graduated in 2008, obtaining the Magister Degree.

 And in 2010, She completed postgraduate studies in Warsaw with Ewa Pobłocka at the Uniwersytet Muzyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina (Fryderyk Chopin University of Music). From 2008 to 2010 she was studying as one of the scholarship students by the Polish Government. In addition, from 2009 she was studying by fellowship of the Japanese Government Overseas Study Programme for Artists.

 In the Masterclasses, She was held scholarship for highly qualified young musicians, graduated and advanced students from the Weimar Master Classes (2009) and London Master Classes (2010).

 She has further honed her skills and musical expressions under the late Halina Czerny-Stefanska, Boris Petrushansky, Klaus Schilde , the late Vera Gornostaeva, Norma Fisher, Daniel Blumenthal and Balázs Szokolay.

 Giving recitals and concerts with orchestras in Germany, Poland, France, Italy and Japan. She has also appeared on the NHK-FM national radio in Japan.

She is part-time Lecture at the J.F.Oberlin University from 2012.

Ai Kayukawa has won several competition prizes.

In 1998,
First prize in YPF (Yamaha Piano Festival) competition.
In 2001,
Third prize (the first prize wasn’t awarded) in Japan Performers Competition.
In 2003,
Prize winner in JPTA competition.
In 2005,
Performed Piano Concerto with Geidai Philharmonia Orchestra (Cond. Kotaro Sato).
In 2007,
Third prize(the first prize wasn’t awarded ) in Rosenstock International Piano Competition.
In 2009,
First prize in 14th Japan Mozart Music Competition.
Performed with Jena Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany (Cond. Gunter Kahlert) and Tokyo Mozart Players Orchestra at the regular concert by Japanische Mozart Gesellschaft.
In 2010,
First Prize in 4th EUTERPE International Piano Competition. (Italy)
She has awarded the Prize which has given from her hometown in Japan for the artist who has a great cultural achievement.
In 2011,
Bärenreiter Urtext Preis and Diploma in 10th Internationaler MOZART-WETTBEWERB. (Salzburg)
In 2012,
Performed Piano concerto with Aichi Chamber Orchestra.
In 2013,
Fourth Prize (no first prize) in 8th J.S.Bach Internationaler Klavierwettbewerb. (Germany,Würzburg)
In 2014,
Performed Piano concerto with Kunitachi Chamber Orchestra (Cond. Kosuke Tsunoda).
Performed Piano concerto with Gifu Symphony Orchestra (Cond. Chikara Imamura).


 Her music activity has been developed with a wider repertoire from Baroque to Contemporary in solo recitals, chamber ensembles and orchestra concerts she performs a variety of works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Rakhmaninov, etc.




Ai Kayukawa Portraits