We are pleased to announce that Yuya Nishimoto, a 4th prize winner at the 5th Takamatsu International Piano Competition, received the 2023 Kagawa Prefecture Culture and Arts Young Artist Award for his "promising contribution to the promotion of culture in Kagawa Prefecture”.

 Nishimoto, a 21-year-old native of Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, began playing the piano at the age of 2 and is currently enrolled in the Music Department of the Tokyo University of the Arts. Last year, he won the 4th prize at the 5th Takamatsu International Piano Competition, becoming the first Kagawa Prefecture resident to win this prize. Recently, he has performed numerous concerts throughout Japan, including with orchestras. He is energetically active not only in Japan but also abroad.

 Kagawa Prefecture has high expectations for his future, commenting “he has been active at the forefront of the music scene, becoming the first prefectural pianist to win a prize at the 5th Takamatsu International Piano Competition (held in February 2023) and the winner of the 68th Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition (held in Washington, D.C. in March 2024). He is actively performing in the prefecture, and his contribution to the promotion of the culture and arts of the prefecture is highly anticipated in the future."