BIOGRAPHY

A true revelation at the 2022 Long-Thibaud international competition, Masaya Kamei’s piano playing is exceptionally virtuosic and sophisticated.

Masaya Kamei Masaya Kamei came to international prominence in 2022 at the Long-Thibaud International Competition in France, where he won First Prize, the Press Award, and the Audience Award. That same year, he also received Third Prize at the Maria Canals International Piano Competition and was a semifinalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In 2025, he was named a laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. In Japan, he gained wide recognition in 2019 when he simultaneously won First Prize at two of the country’s most prestigious competitions: the 43rd PTNA Piano Competition and the 88th Music Competition of Japan.

He has performed with Japan’s leading ensembles, including the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra and the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. His interpretation of Chopin has notably led him to appear with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under Andrey Boreyko. That same year, he made his recital debut at the La Roque d’Anthéron International Piano Festival and the Vilnius Piano Festival. He also toured Japan with the MÁV Symphony Orchestra Budapest under the direction of Iván Fischer, performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in eleven concerts. Invited to the Festivals of La Grange de Meslay and Lille Piano(s) in 2024, Masaya Kamei returns in 2025 to the La Roque d’Anthéron International Piano Festival with the Marseille Opera Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lawrence Foster.

Born in 2001, he began piano studies at the age of four with Mayuko Aoki, Hideo Sugiura, Hisako Ueno, Michiko Okamoto, and Shoichi Hase. While a student at Meiwa High School, he was admitted through the early entrance program to the Toho Gakuen School of Music, where he completed his bachelor’s degree with highest honors in 2023. He has been awarded distinguished scholarships, including from the Ezoe Memorial Recruit Foundation, the Rohm Music Foundation, and the Yasuko Fukuda Award. He is currently studying with Momoko Kodama at the University of Music Karlsruhe in Germany. He has also received guidance from Piotr Anderszewski, Stephen Kovacevic, and Benedetto Lupo, who have enriched his musical approach.

During the 2025–2026 season, Masaya Kamei will make his debut with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia (as part of La Folle Journée de Nantes 2026), the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, and with the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Belgium (on tour in Japan), and the Berlin Philharmonic Camerata.

In the upcoming seasons, he has been invited back by the NHK Symphony Orchestra. He will also give recitals at the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle in Hamburg (as a guest Steinway artist), the Sala Verdi in Milan (as part of the Serate Musicale series), the Teatro Fraschini in Pavia, the Salle Molière in Lyon, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. In 2022, he released his first solo album, VIRTUOZO, which showcases both his virtuosity and his refined artistry.

PRESS QUOTES

«Masaya Kamei, a 20-year-old Japanese pianist, captivates with his colourful interpretation of Saint-Saëns’s 5th concerto. His aura aura and his presence are electrifying. Confronted with a composition which virtuosity may seem shallow at first, the pianist reveals a style of playing that never fails to surprise, bringing a very extrovert vitality to the refined outbursts of the 1st movement. The range of his talent becomes even more evident in a 2nd movement full of wit and audacity, which inventiveness of colour is underlined by a musician who does not want to adhere to a simple pastiche of exoticism.»
Pianist

«A La Roque-d’Anthéron, l’époustouflant Chopin du jeune pianiste japonais Masaya Kamei (…) Le Concerto pour piano n° 1 en mi mineur, op. 11, de Chopin, une œuvre reine, à la fois acte d’amour et combat (…) Masaya Kamei s’y installe avec une autorité naturelle, sans esbroufe. Le jeu est d’une fluidité, d’une élégance et d’une puissance qui forcent l’admiration. Tension dynamique sans rudesse, souci du détail sans préciosité, usage du rubato sans ostentation : Kamei possède ce sens du phrasé qui donne à la musique des allures d’improvisation. Sous les doigts ailés du pianiste et la baguette amicale du maestro Lawrence Foster, l’allegro maestoso file bon train, virtuose dans la conception, chambriste dans l’esprit. Du grand art.»
Marie-Aude Roux – Le Monde Pianiste

«Masaya Kamei possède une telle joie enfantine qu’il nous émerveille. Imagination narrative foisonnante, originale, avec un parfait mélange de folklore et de noblesse.»
Olivier Bellamy – Le Point