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PRESS RELEASE

No.she034January 19, 2023

Commemorative Concert of the 51st Suntory Music Award
Hisako Kawamura (Piano)
March 9 & 13, 2023

In March 2023, Suntory Hall is pleased to present two concerts featuring the Japanese pianist Hisako Kawamura, recipient of the 51st Suntory Music Award (2019). German-based Kawamura divides her time between Europe and Japan, both as performer and as teacher. In Tokyo, she has recently concluded her Beethoven piano sonata project at Kioi Hall (Tokyo) to high acclaim.

The Suntory Music Award was inaugurated in 1969 with the aim of promoting the development of Western-style music in Japan. It is presented to individuals or ensembles for notable contributions in classical music by the Suntory Foundation for the Arts (Directors General: Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and Shingo Torii) and the prize money is JPY7,000,000. The recipient is given the opportunity to give a concert with a programme of his/her choice.

In fact, Hisako Kawamura will give two concerts to commemorate her award: a solo/chamber music concert on March 9 at Blue Rose (Small Hall) and a concert with orchestra on March 13 (Main Hall). In both her programmes, she will perform works by forgotten female composers alongside masterpieces of the Romantic period. She says that she was made aware of the music of these female composers through an online speech given by her student during the lockdown, and she resolved to focus her efforts on performing their music.

In the solo/chamber music concert on March 9, Kawamura will be joined by British ensemble, Doric String Quartet, and together they will explore the Piano Trio by Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979), British composer with American/German roots, as well as Robert Schumann's well-loved Piano Quintet. She will open the concert with the Piano Sonata by Akio Yashiro (1929-1976), an important Japanese composer of the post-war period.
In the concert with orchestra on March 13, Kawamura performs the Piano Concerto by American composer Amy Beach (1867-1944) and the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Johannes Brahms, together with trusted colleague Kazuki Yamada (conductor) and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.

***

Listing

Commemorative Concert of the 51st Suntory Music Award

Performers
Hisako Kawamura, Piano
Doric String Quartet (March 9)
 Violin I: Alex Redington
 Violin II: Ying Xue
 Viola: Hélène Clément
 Violoncello: John Myerscough
Kazuki Yamada, Conductor (March 13)
Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra (March 13)

■Chamber Music
Thursday, March 9, 2023, 7pm Blue Rose (Small Hall)
Akio Yashiro: Piano Sonata
Rebecca Clarke: Piano Trio
Robert Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44

■Concertos
Monday March 13, 2023 7pm Main Hall
Amy Beach: Bal Masque, Op. 22
Amy Beach: Piano Concerto in C-sharp Minor, Op. 45
Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83

Full listings can be found at the following:
https://www.suntory.com/culture-sports/suntoryhall/article/detail/001033.html

For further information and press photos, please contact:
suntoryhall-pr@suntory.co.jp
Public Relations, Suntory Hall

Website: suntory.jp/HALL-e/
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