• About Hortus
• CDs
• Books
• Series
• Artists

Kotaro Fukuma

Piano

Born in Tokyo, Kotaro Fukuma started learning piano at the age of 5. He studied music at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Bruno Rigutto and Marie-Francoise Bucquet, then at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Klaus Hellwig and at the International Piano Academy Lake Como in Italy. He also has studied with several pianists, including Leon Fleisher, Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Alicia de Larrocha, Maria Joao Pires, Leslie Howard, Dominique Merlet and Aldo Ciccolini.
In 2003, at the age of 20, Kotaro won both First Prize and the Chopin Prize at the 15th Cleveland International Piano Competition. Since then his concert career has developed on five continents.
He has performed in major concert venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, Philharmonie and Konzerthaus in Berlin, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Salle Olivier Messiaen & Salle Gaveau in Paris, AuditorioNacional in Madrid, Sala Mozart in Zaragoza, Suntory Hall in Tokyo.
His performances with orchestras include the Cleveland Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Ile de France National Orchestra, Brazilian Symphony and New Japan Philharmonic. Passionate about contemporary music, Kotaro has performed world and national premieres of works by Toru Takemitsu, Mutsuo Shishido, Renaud Gagneux, Thierry Escaich, Thierry Huillet, Einojuhani Rautavaara and Francesco Milita…