Japanese pianist Tomoki Sakata “demonstrated virtuosity, considerable color and expressivity” (Dallas Morning News) during the 2013 Cliburn Competition, earning him a place among the top six finalists. Just 22 years old, he is building a reputation for a “youthful overabundance of talent” that creates “its own visceral excitement” (Theater Jones). In 2016, Mr. Sakata won the 1st Prize along with 6 special prizes at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Budapest by a unanimous vote. He has made recital, chamber and concerto appearances throughout Europe, Asia, the U.S.A and Africa, in such major Concert halls as Dvořâk Hall in Prague, Grand Hall of the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Salle Cortot in Paris, Philharmonie de Luxembourg, RSI Auditorium Stelio Molo in Lugano, and Teatro Grande di Brescia, as soloist with the Fort Worth Symphony, Youngstown Symphony, Bakersfield Symphony, Lublin Philharmonic, Czech National Symphony, Hungarian Radio Symphony, l’Orchestre Phiharmonique de Maroc, Tokyo City Philharmonic, Sendai  Philharmonic, and Kanagawa Philharmonic Orxhestras, working with such conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Randall Craig Fleisher, Vladimír Válek, Gergely Kesselyák and Hikotaro Yazaki, as a chamber musician, working with the members of Tokyo Quartet, and Brentano Quartet. His performances were broadcasted on the Radio and TV in Switzerland (Radio Suisse Romande and Radio Svizzera Italiana), Russia (KulturaTV), Czech Republic, Hungary, the U.S.A., Japan and many others. He has appeared in numerous international music festivals, including the Brussels Piano Festival, International Music Festival “Janáčkův máj” (Czech Republic), and the 12th International Festival “Musical Kremlin” (Russia) at the invitation of Nikolai Petrov. Octavia Records released Mr. Sakata’s debut disc in spring 2015, featuring works by Liszt, Scriabin, Debussy, Chopin, and Rachmaninov. He has also recorded the soundtrack for the popular Japanese manga series “Your Lie in April.” Born in Nagoya in 1993, Mr. Sakata began piano lessons at the age of 5 and began improvising and composing at age 6. He has received private lessons by Paul Badura-Skoda since the age of 16. In 2011, he was admitted as a youngest student of The Lake Como International Piano Academy, where he has taken masterclasses with many music prominents including Dimitri Bashkirov and Tamás Vásáry.