The Japanese pianist Yu Nitahara graduated with highest honours from the Tokyo National University of the Arts and went on to study solo piano and chamber music at the Mozarteum University Salzburg with Pavel Gililov, where he also graduated with distinction. He is currently a senior lecturer at the Mozarteum University.
Yu Nitahara is first prize winner and winner of the Audience and Orchestra Prize of the Morocco Philharmonic Orchestra International Music Competition. He has also won prizes at numerous international competitions such as the Santander International Piano Competition, the International Mozart Competition, the J.N. Hummel International Piano Competition and the PIANALE International Piano Competition. As a chamber musician, he won first prize at the International Swedish Duo Competition and the prize for the best accompanist for violin and cello at the International Enescu Competition.
Yu has given numerous concerts in his home country Japan as well as in other Asian and European countries. He has performed at major European festivals such as the Gstaad Menuhin Festival and the Schleswig Holstein Festival and has played in major halls such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Great Hall in Salzburg. As a soloist, he has performed with the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Morocco, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, etc.
