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Kyohei Sorita

Piano
President and Chief Conductor, Japan National Orchestra

  • Kyohei Sorita is one of the most celebrated pianists in Japan where he is in demand at the highest level, performing regularly in recital, with all the major Japanese orchestras as well as with his own, the Japan National Orchestra, and on tour with some of the world’s most prestigious ensembles and conductors. In 2021, Sorita caught international attention when he won the Silver Medal at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, since which time he has performed at major European festivals and with some of the finest orchestras across the globe.

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  • Highlights of Sorita’s European career thus far include debuts in 2025 at the Salzburger Festspiele with the Mozarteum Orchestra and in recital at the Klavierfest Ruhr (stepping in for Seong-Jin Cho), with the press remarking on his exemplary virtuosity and his gift for musical storytelling: "Sorita alone became the painter and poet, bringing Hartmann’s images to life without flutes, brass or bells – sharp and colourful in characterisation, with great rhetorical power". He also toured Japan with the string players of the Scharoun Ensemble and later this season will tour Japan with the Tonhalle Orchestra and Paavo Järvi.


    In past seasons, Sorita has performed with orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Tonkünstler Orchestra, has toured Asia with the Basel Chamber Orchestra and Japan with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Alan Gilbert.  In Asia, he has performed with all of the Japanese orchestras, including Yomiuri Nippon and NHK Symphony orchestras, and elsewhere with the Taipei National Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic orchestras amongst others. Conductors with whom Sorita has performed include Ticciati, Boreyko, Weigle, Sado, Payare, Märkl, Ottensamer.  


    In 2012, Sorita won the first prize, audience prize and three other special prizes at the 81st Japanese Music Competition. He is a graduate of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Moscow) and the Chopin University of Music (Warsaw). He founded the Japan National Orchestra in 2019 and in 2023 they gave their first international appearance at the Merano Festival. A dedicated advocate for musical connection and excellence, Sorita is also the founder of the NOVA Record label, with whom he has recorded many discs, and the producer of the music salon "Solistiade" which fosters connections between young musicians and music lovers.

    2025/26 season / 371 words. Not to be altered without permission.

Performances

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Concerto Repertoire

Bach, J.S.
Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, BWV1052


Beethoven
Piano Concerto No.1 in C Major Op.15
Piano Concerto No.2 in B-flat Major Op.19
Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor Op.37
Piano Concerto No.4 in G Major Op.58
Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat Major Op.73


Brahms
Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor Op.15
Piano Concerto No.2 in B flat Major Op.83


Britten
Piano Concerto Op.13


Chopin
Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor Op.11
Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor Op.21
“Krakowiak” Grande Rondeau de concert Op.14
“Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante” Op.22


Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue
Piano Concerto in F Major


Grieg
Piano Concerto in A minor Op.16


Ikebe, S
Piano Concerto No.4 (World Premiere)


Liszt
Piano Concerto No.1 in E-flat Major S.124/R.455


Mendelssohn
Piano Concerto No.1 in G minor Op.25
Piano Concerto No.2 in D minor Op.40
Piano Concerto in A minor for Piano and Strings


Mozart
Piano Concerto No.9 in E-flat Major K.271
Piano Concerto No.13 in C Major K.415
Piano Concerto No.15 in B-flat Major K.450
Piano Concerto No.17 in G Major K.453
Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor K.466
Piano Concerto No.23 in A Major K.488
Piano Concerto No.26 in D Major K.537
(All piano concertos)


Paderewski
Polish Fantasy in G sharp minor Op.19


Poulenc
Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in D minor FP 61
“Aubade” a choreographic concerto for piano and 18 instruments FP 51


Prokofiev
Piano Concerto No.1 in D-flat Major Op.10
Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor Op.16
Piano Concerto No.3 in C Major Op.26


Rachmaninov
Piano Concerto No.1 in F-sharp minor Op.1
Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor Op.18
Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor Op.30
Piano Concerto No.4 in G minor Op.40
“Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini” Op.43


Rachmaninov/Warenberg
Piano Concerto No.5 in E minor Symphony No.2 (Japan Premiere)


Ravel
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major
Piano Concerto in G Major


Saint-Saëns
Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor Op.22
Piano Concerto No.5 in F Major Op.103 “The Egyptian”


Schumann, R.
Piano Concerto in A minor Op.54


Shostakovich
Piano Concerto No.1 in C minor Op.35


Scriabin
Piano Concerto in F sharp minor Op.20


Strauss, R.
Burleske in D minor


Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto No.1 in B-flat minor Op.23
Piano Concerto No.2 in G Major Op.44


Turnage
Piano Concerto (2013) (Japan Premiere)

"Sorita conducted Beethoven with eloquent hands, grand gestures, and infectious energy."

Südwest Presse

"Sorita has a gift for musical storytelling, drawing on Schubert’s vocal lyricism in the Largo in E-flat major and unfolding Chopin’s sound world through nuanced touch, layered dynamics, and the famous tempo rubato—all the way to the fortissimo of dazzling salon bravura."

WAZ

"He knows how to handle the piano. The Jeunehomme Concerto flashes by in a blur of crystalline notes, and the finale practically disappears in his lightning-fast fingers."

Kronenzeitung

Intermusica represents Kyohei Sorita worldwide.

Leyla Güneş
Deputy Head of Artist Management
+44 7917 899 023
lgunes@intermusica.com

All artists

Contralto

Avery Amereau

Actor / Narrator

Amira Casar

Chansonnier

HK Gruber

Harpsichord

Richard Egarr

Piano accompanist

Roger Vignoles

Saxophone

Branford Marsalis