Born in Kyoto (Japan), pianist Wataru Hisasue has received numerous awards, including third prize and the Special Prize for the Best Interpretation of the Commissioned Work at the 66th ARD International Music Competition. He performs in Germany, Japan, France, Spain, Finland, Belgium and the Netherlands, including at the Konzerthaus Berlin, Kioi Hall, Tokyo, Salle Cortot, Paris and at festivals such as the AUDI Music Festival, the Schwetzingen SWR Festival, the Fringe Festival in Torroella de Montgri (Spain) and the “Prèmiere rencontre autour du piano” in Guadeloupe. As a soloist he played with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Musikkollegium Winterthur and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Wataru has received scholarships from the Rohm Music Foundation, the Carl Bechstein Foundation, the German Orchestra Foundation (#MusikerZukunft scholarship) and from the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media as part of the NEUSTART KULTUR programme. His musical training was influenced by Kuniko Murakami, Yasuko Tasumi, Gilead Mishory, Emmanuel Strosser, Pascal Devoyon and Klaus Hellwig. Initially trained at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, Germany, and the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse in Paris, he will complete his postgraduate studies at the Berlin University of the Arts in 2025. Several of Wataru’s CDs have been released by ART INFINI and Deutsche Grammophon (Universal Music Japan).