Masayuki Hirahara (平原 誠之 Hirahara Masayuki July 15, 1980) is a Japanese pianist and composer.
Early life Masayuki Hirahara was born and raised in Kobe, Japan. He started taking piano lessons when he was eight years old. Through these lessons, he became interested in composition and he studied it by himself. In his first year of the high school, he studied under a pianist who had graduated from the Berlin University of the Arts for one year. After that, he taught himself how to play and compose.Chopin magazine November 2011 In 1999 he participated in the music competition of the Great Hanshin earthquake (Kobe earthquake) Reconstruction Memorial Classic Festival and he won Hyogo Arts & Culture Association’s Prize and a golden award in composition section.Chopin magazine November 2011 He worked for a publisher which publishes a monthly piano magazine from 2000 to 2003.Chopin magazine November 2011
Performing and composing career With the encouragement of those who heard his performance in 1999, he started his career as a performer at a hall in Kobe in February 2003. His performances moved the audiences and his reputation spread by word of mouth; he held a concert at an 800-person capacity hall in Tokyo in October of the same year.Chopin magazine November 2011 In 2009, Princess Takamado heard his performance.Music Office Bravi website - profile In 2010, international Chopin year, he was invited to play at the Chopin 200th anniversary concert at Reid Concert Hall in the University of Edinburgh cosponsored by the Japanese Consulate General in Edinburgh, the University of Edinburgh and the Polish Consulate General in Edinburgh.Music Office Bravi website - profile In the following year, he was invited by the Japanese Consulate General in Edinburgh to perform at St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh, the University of Glasgow, and the Sage Gateshead.Masayuki Hirahara Official Blog - June 2012 In 2012, he was invited to perform at charity concerts in Los Angeles for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. He played the piano in a retirement home and at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Huntington Beach, California. He lectured about composition to the master class of Yamaha Music Center in Irvine, California.Masayuki Hirahara Official Blog - March 2012 In the same year, he performed at the Ise Grand Shrine for the 62nd Sikinen Sengu Ceremony (fixed-interval transfer ceremony - wherein a shrine's sacred object is transferred to a newly constructed main hall) and he became the first person who played the piano in the Ise Grand Shrine.Masayuki Hirahara Official Blog - Wed, April 11, 2012 In 2014, he was designated to be the Japan-El Salvador goodwill ambassador of music. In March 2015, he played at the Japan - El Salvador Diplomatic establishment’s 80th anniversary concert.Embajada de Japón en El Salvador In November, he held the anniversary charity concert in Tokyo and it was honored with the presence of the Princess Mako of Akishino,tv asahi news and donated the part of the proceeds of that concert for the activities of dissemination of music in El Salvador.Embajada de Japón en El Salvador
References
External links Masayuki Hirahara Official Website Masayuki Hirahara Official Blog ""平原誠之 オフィシャルブログ""