Nobuyuki Tsujii (born September 13, 1988) is a Japanese pianist and composer who shared the First Prize at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009 in a tie with co-winner Haochen Zhang of China.
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Nobuyuki Tsujii was born blind but was gifted with a talent for music. At the age of two, he began to play Jingle Bells on a toy piano after his mother had been humming the tune. He began his formal study of piano at the age of four. In 1995, at the age of seven, Tsujii won the first prize at the All Japan Music of Blind Students by the Tokyo Helen Keller Association. In 1998, at age ten, he debuted with The Century Orchestra Osaka. He gave his first piano recital in the small hall of Tokyo's Suntory Hall at age 12. [1] Subsequently, he made his debut overseas with performances in the United States, France, and Russia. In October 2005, he reached the semifinal and received the Critics’ Award in the 15th International Frederik Chopin Piano Competition held in Warsaw, Poland .[2]
In April 2007, Tsujii entered Ueno Gakuen University of music. He graduated in March 2011 .[3]
Tsujii competed in the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and tied for the gold medal with Haochen Zhang. He was also awarded the Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the Best Performance of a New Work. He played all twelve of Frédéric Chopin's Op. 10 Études as part of his performance in the preliminaries.
Tsujii was one of the competitors prominently featured in the documentary film about the 2009 Van Cliburn competition, "A Surprise in Texas", which was first broadcast on PBS TV in 2010.[4]
In addition to being a pianist, Nobuyuki Tsujii is a music composer. At age 12, Nobuyuki Tsujii performed his own composition "Street Corner of Vienna" .[5] In 2010-2011, he composed the theme music for a Japanese film [6] as well for a Japanese TV drama .[7] In June 2011, Japanese figure skating champion Midori Ito performed in a world event (Master Elite Oberstdorf 2011)[8] to the music of "Whisper of the River", composed by Tsujii when he was in high school—to express his love for his father after the two took a walk on the Kanda River in Tokyo .[9]
On November 10, 2011, Nobuyuki Tsujii made a debut recital in the main hall (Isaac Stern Auditorium) at the Carnegie Hall in New York, as part of the Keyboard Virtuosos II series. [10] [11]
Van Cliburn is quoted as having told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "He was absolutely miraculous. His performance had the power of a healing service. It was truly divine." [12]
2009 Van Cliburn Competition Juror Richard Dyer, a chief music critic for The Boston Globe, said, "Very seldom do I close my notebook and just give myself over to it, and he made that necessary. I didn't want to be interrupted in what I was hearing." [13]
2009 Van Cliburn Competition Juror Michel Béroff, an award winning internationally known pianist, told the Japanese monthly piano magazine Chopin,[14] "The special thing about his performance is his sound. It has depth, color and contrast, the genuine music." [15]
In the documentary "A Surprise in Texas", Menahem Pressler, Cliburn juror and an eminent pianist, says: “I have the utmost admiration for (Nobuyuji Tsujii.) God has taken his eyes, but given him the physical endowment and mental endowment to encompass the greatest works of piano. For him to play the Chopin concerto with such sweetness, gentleness and sincerity; it's deeply touching. I had to keep from crying when I left the room.”
Scott Cantrell in his review of the 2009 Van Cliburn competition for The Dallas Morning News wrote that “It's almost beyond imagining that he has learned scores as formidable as Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto and Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata by ear…Through all three rounds, he played with unfailing assurance, and his unforced, utterly natural Chopin E-Minor Piano Concerto was an oasis of loveliness.”[16][17]
John Giordano, music director and conductor of Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra who was jury chairman for the Cliburn competition, said in 2010, "“He’s amazing. We closed our eyes and it’s so phenomenal that it’s hard to withhold your tears. Nobu played the most difficult hour-long Beethoven piece (Hammerklavier, Sonata no. 29) flawlessly. For anyone, it’s extraordinary. But for someone blind who learns by ear, it’s mind-boggling.” [18]
In an interview after the November 2011 Carnegie Hall debut recital of Mr. Tsujii, Mr. Van Cliburn said on TV Asahi, "What a thrill to hear this brilliant, very gifted, fabulous pianist. You feel God's presence in the room when he played. He's so pure. His music is so wonderful, and it goes to infinity to the highest heaven." [19]
Since his triumph at the Cliburn, Tsujii has gained prominence in classical piano music, especially in his native Japan. His Cliburn CDs, as well as other CDs recorded before 2009, are now widely available. His official Van Cliburn disc (HMU 907505) has sold well over 100,000 copies [20]
Since becoming a Van Cliburn winner, Tsujii has been performing in concerts all over the world. As of year 2012, he is an IMG (International Management Group) artist.
Nobuyuki Tsujii is also a composer. His work "Whisper of the River" appears on the soundtrack of A Surprise in Texas, the documentary for the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition . In summer of 2011, he composed music for a Japanese film 神様のカルテ God's Chart and for a Japanese TV series それでも、生きてゆく Still We Live. Mr. Tsujii is solely responsible for and composed the music for the Japanese film はやぶさ 遥かなる帰還 Far return Hayabusa" released in February 2012.