SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023 · 3 PM

MAO FUJITA, piano

THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL
Musical Prelude · 2 PM
Featuring students from The Colburn School

First Prize, Concours International de Piano Clara Haskil in Switzerland

Tchaikovsky Competition 2019, Silver Medalist

With an innate musical sensitivity and naturalness to his artistry, 24-year-old pianist Mao Fujita has already impressed many leading musicians as one of those special talents which come along only rarely, equally at home in Mozart as the major romantic repertoire.

Born in Tokyo, Fujita was still studying at the Tokyo College of Music in 2017 when he took First Prize at the prestigious Concours International de Piano Clara Haskil in Switzerland, along with the Audience Award, Prix Modern Times, and the Prix Coup de Coeur, which first brought him to the attention of the international music community. He was also the Silver Medalist at the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, where his special musical qualities received exceptional attention from a jury of leading musicians.

Fujita has been invited to appear in recital at major international festivals including the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Tsinandali and Riga-Jurmala festivals, among others, and he made his highly-anticipated US recital debut at Carnegie Hall in January 2023. Recent and upcoming orchestral highlights include performances with the Gewandhausorchester, Munich Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Philharmonique de Radio France, Konzerthaus Berlin, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, RAI, Filarmonica della Scala, and Lucerne Festival orchestras, while his many conductor relationships include Vasily Petrenko, Christoph Eschenbach, Riccardo Chailly, and Andris Nelsons.

In November 2021, Fujita signed an exclusive multi-album deal with Sony Classical International. The new partnership sees him explore many facets of repertoire across several releases, starting with an eagerly-anticipated studio recording of Mozart’s complete piano sonatas, which is due for release in October 2022, following an acclaimed series of performances of the complete sonatas at the Verbier Festival in 2021. Fujita has been invited to perform the same set of works, interspersed with sets of Variations, over five concerts for his debut at London’s Wigmore Hall at the end of the 2022/23 season.

Starting piano lessons at the age of three, Fujita won his first international prize in 2010 at the World Classic in Taiwan, and became a laureate of numerous national and international competitions such as the Rosario Marciano International Piano Competition in Vienna (2013), Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians (2015), and the Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Piano Competition (2016).

CHOPIN
Polonaise in C-sharp Minor, Op.26 No.1
Polonaise in E-flat Minor, Op.26 No. 2
Polonaise in A Major, Op. 40 No. 1
Polonaise in C Minor, Op. 40 No. 2
Polonaise in F-sharp Minor, Op.44
Polonaise in A-flat Major, Op. 53
Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat Major, Op.61

LISZT
Piano Sonata in B Minor, S.178