A fundrasing event for the victims of the flood in Bosnia-Herzegovina with one of Japan's foremost soprano assoluta - Yumiko Samejima, accompanied by Yoshio Hamano (piano).
Part of the continuing MCS Young Artists Fund classical music concert fundraising series.
Yumiko Samejima (soprano
Mrs Samejima is a foremost authority of Japanese art songs. She was singing at the Ulm’s State Opera (Germany). In 1990 Mrs Samejima appeared in Kouhaku song revue. She studied in Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and then at the National University of the Arts, Berlin (Germany).
Yumiko Samejima is well known for her extensive recordings of the Japanese songs.
Yoshio Hamano (piano)
Born in Tokyo, Japanese-Russian pianist Yoshio Hamano is currently studying for his Master of Performance degree with Dmitri Alexeev at the Royal College of Music after completing his BA at Tokyo University of the Arts, where he studied with Dr Atsuko Okada. Yoshio had the honour of being a pupil of Elena Ashkenazi for over ten years, and also works with pianists Vadim Sakharov and Dr Nikita Fitenko.
Yoshio has been a prize winner of major international piano competitions, such as the International Russian Music Piano Competition, Minoru Nojima Yokosuka Piano Competition, Alemdar Karamanov Youth Pianists International Competition, and Rome-2003 International Piano Competition. Most recent achievements include First Prize at the 2011 Music Competition of Japan and 2012 Nordic Piano Competition.
Yoshio has performed extensively as soloist with orchestras and chamber ensembles, including the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra, Geidai Philharmonia, Lund City Orchestra, City of Bishkek Grand Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Tchaikovsky String Quartet, and Vienna Rasumofsky Quartet. To date, Yoshio had the privilege of working with such distinguished conductors as Alexander Lazarev, Andreas Lönnqvist, Kazuki Yamada, Naoto Otomo, and Masahiko Enkoji.