Rutsuko Yamagishi - Pianist

Born in Vancouver, Canada. Begun studying the piano at the age of three. After returning to Japan, she moved to Manila at the age of six, where she studied with the former Spanish governor general’s first daughter, pianist Stella Goldenberg Brimo. She was first featured on television at age nine when she held a recital at Paco Park in Manila City. Since returning to Japan, she studied piano at the Toho Gakuen Music Highschool and the Toho Gakuen College of Music. At age 19, she studied the fundamentals of the Russian Leningrad style abroad in Vancouver with Dr. Eugene Skovorodnikov. In 1996, she met Lazar Berman, whom she studied with for eight years in Florence, Italy. In 1995, she won third place at International Piano Competition “Rome”, and in 1997, she won first place in both the solo and concerto competitions at the Kiwanis Festival in Canada with the judges’ unanimous approval. She has since refrained from entering competitions, citing her artistic philosophies. In 1996 and 1998, she performed in the International Holland Music Sessions in the Netherlands, and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany. German newspapers, including the Flensburg Journal, gave rave reviews following her performance. Following her 1999 debut recital at the Nihon University Casals Hall, she has performed in many places, including on NHK-FM’s FM Recital and Meikyoku Recital, Ishii Tatsuya’s Classical Concert Tour, the Iwao Furusawa Violin Recital, and the numerous Kawai Concerts throughout Japan. In 2011 she performed in the Kawai Eastern Japan Earthquake Relief Charity Concert, and the Hamarikyu Asahi Hall and the All Liszt Program Recital in November commemorating Franz Liszt’s 200th birthday. Her overseas activities center around Europe: Italy, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Estonia. In Italy, she performed at the Palazzo Budini Gattai in Florence, Istituto Universitario Europeo in S. Domenico Fiesole and Museo della Madonna del Parto in Monterchi, Arezzo; in Lithuania, with the Kaunas Symphony Orchestra; and in Estonia, as a soloist at the David Oistrakh Festival. In 2010, she held a solo recital in Santiago, Chili. There she received a standing ovation from a full audience, including ambassadors from 20 nations. Following her successful first South American recital, she was invited once again in March of 2011 to perform two nights back-to-back in a solo recital and a joint performance with the Andres Bello Orchestra. In addition to performing, in recent years, she has been teaching actively in both public and private lessons, and adjudicating in competitions. She has released seven live recording CDs and one DVD. To date, she has studied with Stella G. Brimo, Yuri Hamaguchi, Sadako Matsuoka, Eugene Skovorodnikov, Valentina Berman and Lazar Berman.