It all started when…
I am a classically trained pianist, who is breaking down the classical music box. For a long time, I believed that to be a pianist, is to be a classical pianist. While I still hold a deep appreciation and love for the classical style, I just want to be, a pianist— no genre attached, to perform what I love, no matter where it came from. Throughout my journey of creating different programs for recital series, I’ve discovered that I hold a fondness for music that seems still, but is consistently evolving and slowly forming into something else. I like to think that I am also doing something similar, where from the outside, it may seem that I am doing my “same old” classical music, but upon further listening, it’s absolutely different. I curate programs where the music itself can be appreciated and used as reprieve from daily life, as well as serving a larger cause.
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“Simplicity is the final achievement.”
Boston-based pianist Sakurako Kanemitsu is a colorful and creative interpreter of music ranging from the established classical repertoire to the music of our time. She began her studies at the age of 5 in Tokyo, Japan, and has since performed as soloist and chamber pianist in Italy, Germany, and the United States. She is inspired by the subtle nuance of Rubinstein’s Chopin, the intricate sonorities of Debussy and Ravel, and the aphoristic beauty of Arvo Pärt.
Ms. Kanemitsu maintains a busy concert schedule, performing as a soloist and chamber musician as well as in theatrical settings such as dance and theater productions and has appeared regularly as an artist with the Hawkins School of Performing Arts, Sacramento Contemporary Dance Theatre, and the Sacramento State Opera. Recently, Ms. Kanemitsu received an Artist-in-Residence award from UC Davis in support of a collaborative project involving the university’s graduate composers, award-winning choreographer Jacob Gutierrez-Montoya, and cellist Michael Dahlberg.
Past projects include a solo recital of all contemporary works at the San Francisco Center for New Music and a Mu Phi Epsilon-sponsored concert at California State University Sacramento in collaboration with clarinetist Katsuya Yuasa. In 2018, Sakurako was invited to premiere new works by the UC Davis composition faculty with Cornell-based soprano Lucy Fitz-Gibbons. In 2021, Sakurako organized and performed a portrait concert of Joe Hisaishi’s works from the Studio Ghibli films, raising funds for Support AAPI Hate Community Fund. In recognition of her work, she was also featured on CapRadio’s Summer Concert Series further highlighting Joe Hisaishi’s work and social justice issues regarding the rise of anti Asian hate crimes.
Sakurako earned her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Piano Performance from Sacramento State School of Music, where she worked as a teaching assistant and administrative assistant for the School of Music’s Piano Series. Her previous teachers include Steinway Artist Richard Cionco, Kirsten Smith, Natsuki Fukasawa, and Tanya Gabrielian. In 2013, Ms. Kanemitsu became one of the the youngest students to receive the exclusive Saturday Club Scholarship in Piano. During her graduate studies, she received the Music Research Symposium Award in 2017 for her research on the connection between Friedrich Chopin’s composed works and his improvisations. In Spring of 2024, Sakurako graduated with her post-master’s degree from Longy School of Music of Bard College as a Barbra Roth Donaldson scholar, under the tutelage of Grammy-nominated pianist Andrius Žlabys.
Important masterclasses and coaches include NY based contemporary ensemble Yarn/Wire, Gilbert Kahlish, Telegraph Quartet, Adam Neiman, Geoffrey Burleson, Ian Swensen, Petronel Malan, Lino Rivera, Clive Swansbourne, Jooeun Pak, Michael Rickman, Eric Zivian and the late Mark Sokol.
Click above to listen to a recent interview and performance at CapRadio with host, Jennifer Reason.
Photography by Tomoko Matsushita and Peng Wah Ng
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