Jon Yasuhiro Nakamatsu (born 1968, San Jose, California) is an American classical pianist [1] who resides in San Jose.
Jon Yasuhiro Nakamatsu (born 1968, San Jose, California) is an American classical pianist [1] who resides in San Jose.
He is the son of David Y. Nakamatsu, a San Jose electrical engineer, and Karen F. Maeda Nakamatsu, a city employee. He was raised in nearby Sunnyvale, California and attended Prospect High School and Stanford University before becoming a German teacher at St. Francis High School in Mountain View. [2]
In June 1997 Nakamatsu won the Gold Medal at the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. [2] He was the first American to win this prize since 1981. Immediately following the competition, he quit his job as a high school German teacher to pursue a career as a classical pianist. He did not attend a music conservatory or major in music while he attended college and graduate school.
During the summer of 2005, Nakamatsu toured with the San Jose Youth Symphony in Spain, performing the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2, and in June 2007, he toured with the Peninsula Youth Orchestra to Budapest, Prague, and Teplice playing the same piece. During the summer of 2008, he also toured with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra to China, playing Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."
| venue | date |
|---|---|
| Vancouver Symphony Orchestra | 22 May 2009 [5] |
| title | label | date | catalog number | notes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Jon Nakamatsu, Gold Medalist | Harmonia Mundi | June 1997 | HMU 907218 (CD) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. | Chopin Selected Works | Harmonia Mundi | October 1998 | HMU 907244 (CD) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. | Lukas Foss, Piano Concertos, Elegy for Anne Frank | Harmonia Mundi | April 2001 | HMU 907243 (CD) | out of print | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4. | Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Jon Nakamatsu, piano Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Christopher Seaman, conductor | Harmonia Mundi | September 2001 | HMU 907286 (CD) HMU 807286 (hybrid SACD/CD) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5. | Wölfl, 4 Piano Sonatas, Piano Sonatos Op. 25 & 33 | Harmonia Mundi | November 2003 | HMU 907324 (CD) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6. | Brahms, Piano Sonata, No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5 | Harmonia Mundi | October 2004 | HMU 907339 (CD) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7. | Franz Liszt, The Dante Sonata & other works | Harmonia Mundi | 14 November 2006 | HMU 907409 (CD) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8. | George Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F, Rhapsody in Blue, Cuban Overture Jon Nakamatsu, piano Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Jeff Tyzik, conductor | Harmonia Mundi | 8 May 2007 | HMU 807441 (hybrid SACD/CD) |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9. | Johannes Brahms: Sonatas Op. 120 Number 1 in F minor and Number 2 in E-flat major for clarinet and piano with Jon Manasse, clarinet | Harmonia Mundi | 8 January 2008 | HMU907430 (CD) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10. | Robert Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9; Papillons, Op. 2; Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 | Harmonia Mundi | 4 March 2014 | HMU907503 (CD) |
Nakamatsu is featured in the documentary movie "Playing with Fire": The Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which aired on PBS television and is available on DVD.
| award | competition | location | date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Medalist ($20,000) | Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition | Fort Worth, Texas | June 1997 (quadrennial) |
| First Prize | Fifth U.S. National Chopin Piano Competition | Miami, Florida | 1995 |
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz, blues, and popular music, including rock and roll. Most pianists can, to an extent, easily play other keyboard instruments such as the synthesizer, harpsichord, celesta, and the organ.
Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. was an American pianist. At the age of 23, Cliburn achieved worldwide recognition when he won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 during the Cold War.
Jon Kimura Parker is a Canadian pianist.
Alexander Davidovich "Lexo" Toradze was a Georgian-born American pianist, best known for his classical Russian repertoire, with a career spanning over three decades. He regularly appeared as soloist with many of the world's major orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He was a professor of piano at Indiana University South Bend from 1991 to 2017.
The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is an American piano competition by The Cliburn, first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas and hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. Initially held at Texas Christian University, the competition has been held at the Bass Performance Hall since 2001. The competition is named in honour of Van Cliburn, who won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition, in 1958.
Steven De Groote was a South African classical pianist.
Alexander Yevgenyevich Kobrin was born March 20, 1980, in Moscow, Russia. He is a music teacher and pianist.
Olga Vladimirovna Kern is a Russian-American classical pianist. She became an American citizen in 2016.
The Van Cliburn Foundation presents the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the Cliburn Amateur Piano Competition, the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival, Musical Awakenings education programs, and Cliburn Concerts.
The Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition took place in Fort Worth, Texas from May 22 to June 7, 2009. The competitors were selected by a screening jury during screening auditions that took place in January and February 2009. The Takács Quartet performed with the semifinalists, while the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Conlon accompanied the finalists.
José Feghali was a Brazilian pianist, who, until his death, was an Artist-in-Residence at Texas Christian University's school of music in piano. He was the gold medalist winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1985.
Masterworks Chorale is a choral ensemble based in San Mateo, California.
Di Wu is a Chinese-American pianist.
The Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition took place in Fort Worth, Texas, from May 27 to June 11, 1989. Soviet pianist Alexei Sultanov won the competition, while José Carlos Cocarelli (Brazil) and Benedetto Lupo (Italy) were awarded the silver and bronze medals. Sultanov was 19 years old at the time. Alexander Shtarkman (USSR), Tian Ying (China), and Elisso Bolkvadze (USSR) were the 4th, 5th, and 6th place winners respectively.
Ang Li is a classical pianist.
Vadym Kholodenko is a Ukrainian pianist, and winner of the gold medal at the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, who captured the attention of jury, audience, and critics alike for "mesmerizing and exhilarating" performances that brought the crowd to their feet, "[cheering] him like a rock star".
Yekwon Sunwoo is a South Korean classical pianist. In 2017, at 28 years old, Sunwoo was the first Korean to win the gold medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He won the Sendai International Music Competition in 2013.
Kenneth Broberg is an American classical pianist. In June 2017 he won the silver medal at the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In June 2019 Broberg earned the third prize and bronze medal at The XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition. In June 2021 he received the American Pianists Association award.
Daniel Hsu is an American classical pianist. He won the bronze medal, the Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the Best Performance of a New Work, and the Steven De Groote Memorial Award for the Best Performance of Chamber Music at the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
Sean Chen is an American pianist.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
