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When I catch a glimpse of recent music programs, I often get special interests in pianist Kyohei Sorita’s* (28 years old) point of views and the breadth of music related activities.
Needless to say, Mr. Kyohei Sorita is a Chopinist (Chopin pianist) who won the 2nd prize at the 18th Chopin Competition in 2021. Therefore, I believe that his concerts must be tightly organized in Japan and all over the world after winning the competition.
However, the scope of his activities that I have seen on TV recently is far beyond my imagination, and I am fascinated by the fact that he seems to be doing all of them very casually and naturally.
At the annual Vienna New Year's Concert, he was in the Vienna Music Society, where he listened from rehearsal to performance as an audience, while going back and forth between the venue and the special room as a commentator for NHK's live broadcast. From his comments in the program, I could understand why he has said on various occasions that he is interested in thinking about music from the standpoint of a conductor. The broadcast also featured his home in Vienna.
Like in Vienna, it has long been known that he is expanding his music related activities in Nara Prefecture, Japan. I became more interested in his activities in Nara when they were introduced in the Japanese TV program "Untitled Concert" the other day. I knew that a horn was an instrument used by aristocrats to hunt deer in the middle ages in Europe. Sorita wanted to experiment, and the scene where the deer in Nara Park (the park is known for its dear) gathered by a sound of horn was broadcasted. Furthermore, it has been known that the long-established Nara Hotel has a piano played by Einstein in 1922. It was also shown in the program that Sorita played Chopin on this piano.
Neither of these things is new, but I find it particularly refreshing to see how quickly he has done something that no one has ever done before, and how interesting his point of views and ability to take actions are.
Nara Prefecture is said to have fewer tourists than Kyoto due to the inconvenience of transportation, the narrowness of roads, and the lack of lodging facilities, despite its high and long historical values. However, I think that initiatives like his are excellent to convey the original charm of Nara Prefecture to the outside world.
Sorita founded Japan National Orchestra Co., Ltd. (JNO). Established with the investment of DMG Mori Co., Ltd., a major machine tool company, and realized through investment by the Mori Manufacturing Research and Technology Foundation, which provides endowments and supports in variety of fields both in Japan and overseas, and NEXUS (music agency which Sorita founded in 2008 and serves as the representative). Sorita and Akihiko Kawashima, Senior Managing Executive Officer of DMG Mori, serve as representatives of JNO. JNO consists of Sorita and 17 other soloists. Based in Nara, the birthplace of DMG Mori, JNO aims to create a music academy in the future while carrying out sustainable and progressive musical activities.
New York Harrington upright piano played by Einstein in 1922 manufactured around 1900)
There are many promising young musicians in Japan today, but among them, Kyohei Sorita is unique and particularly noteworthy because he has interesting ideas, and his ability to act upon them. I am interested in his potentials.
* Profile: Born in Sapporo, Hokkaido, and raised in Tokyo. He graduated from Toho Gakuen University and entered the Moscow Conservatory. Sorita currently studies under Piotr Paleczny at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. He previously studied with Mikhail Voskresensky at the Moscow Conservatory. He won the 2nd prize at the 18th Chopin International Competition. He is married to Aimi Kobayashi (27 years old pianist, 4th prize at the 18th Chopin International Competition) in January 1, 2023.
Last November (2022), I went to listen to Aimi Kobayashi’s Piano Recital (@Izumi Hall Osaka).
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