Naoki Tsurusaki (cello) & Akiko Ebi (piano)

Program

E.Grieg: Cello Sonata in A minor
E.Grieg: Violoncello Sonata op.36

S.Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata op.19
S.Rakhmaninov: Cello Sonata op.19

F. Chopin: Cello Sonata in G minor
F.Chopin: Sonate pour violoncelle et piano op.65

Profile

Naoki Tsurusaki, violoncello (cello)
Born in 1953. In the fall of 2011, he left the Lyon Opera, where he had been enrolled for over 30 years, to concentrate on his solo and composition activities. In the same year, he performed six consecutive concerts in Tokyo of cello solo pieces and chamber music, including his own compositions, from Beethoven to the present, and received many favorable reviews. 《Beethoven's Liberation or resignation in his later years...not gloomy but musically... resonated deeply with the audience and left a deep impression.》("Musica Nova" Kunio Iki) In order to realize this, there was a figure of earnestly immersing himself in music. […] He played carefully while showing a sense of stability […] I also felt the styles and tastes of Beethoven's early, middle, and late periods.” ("Ongaku no Tomo" Naoya Takayama)
He has performed with the Lyon Chamber Orchestra, the Hokkaido Symphony Orchestra, Michio Kobayashi, Katsumi Ueda, Ichiro Nodaira, Akiko Ebi, Kenji Watanabe, Kazushi Ono, and others. Appeared at the Berlioz Festival, Germany, the Ruhr Music Festival, etc. In addition, he has received high acclaim for his performances, including domestic premieres of works by Akira Tamba, Nguyen Chien Dao, Fumiko Kojiba, and Ichiro Nohira for cello and chamber music.
Bach's "Unaccompanied Cello Suite" full-length live recording was released by Live Notes and was well received. 《When you listen to it, you will be tempted by an emotion that transcends reason. […] and the passage from the abyss of No. 5 to the exaltation of No. 6 is also particularly memorable. It is a great pleasure to know this extraordinary cellist in such a happy way. 》(Jiro Hamada "Record Geijutsu" May 2005 Semi-Special)
In the autumn of 2013, in addition to works by Toru Takemitsu, Joji Yuasa, and Fumiko Kojiba, he premiered his own composition Ephemera for cello and piano. In January 2014, he held a recital of Bach's Gamba Sonata with Michio Kobayashi.
Studied under Mr. Takayuki Miki, the late Reine Frachaud, and the late Maurice Gendron.

Akiko Ebi, piano
Won the 41st Japan Music Competition while in the first year at Tokyo University of the Arts. Graduated from the National Conservatoire de Paris with the highest honors and graduated from the same graduate school. He won the Grand Prix, Chopin, and Leeds international competitions at Long Thibault, and won a special prize at the same time. Received the Japan Gold Disc Award twice, the Chopin Society of Japan Award, the Order of Literary Chevalier from the French government in 1993, the Paris Honorary Citizen Medal in 1998, and the Exxon-Mobil Music Award Honorable Mention in 2002. For the past 30 years, he has been active as a performer in various countries around the world, including Japan, Europe, the United States, Canada, Central and South America, Russia, China, the Middle East, and Egypt. He has performed with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and other major Japanese symphony orchestras, as well as with orchestras from France, England, Poland, Argentina, and other countries. The autumn 2008 piano duo concert with Ms. Martha Argerich has been broadcast frequently on television in many countries, including European countries, Israel and Romania, from January 2009 to the present. He holds master classes in various countries and is often asked to be a judge at major international music competitions. Chairman of Yokohama City Invited International Piano Music Festival Executive Committee, 2012 Chairman of the Jury of the 8th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition. Currently, Nihon University College of Art Graduate School Piano Department professor. Director of the Japan Chopin Association. Former visiting professor at Tokyo University of the Arts.