Artist Profile
Takeshi Kakehashi
Born in Tokyo to musician parents in 1977, Kakehashi lost his eyesight due to a childhood cancer just a month and a half after birth. He took up piano lessons at the age of four and a half. Right after having finished the elementary school at 12 years old, Kakehashi was admitted to the preliminary course of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In 1994, he was the youngest participant and the winner at the International Competition of the Blind and Partially Sighted Musicians, Czech, and at the Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists (B category), Germany. In the next year, he won the second prize at the Stravinsky Awards International Competition for children and young adults, USA. The list of success goes on; the Muramatsu Award in 1997, the second prize at the Concours International Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud, as well as the Prize of the SACEM (recital award) and Prize of the Chevillion-Bonnaud Foundation in 1998, the Tokyo Citizens' Award for Cultural Award, Idemitsu Music Award, Braille Mainichi Culture Award in 1999, and a special prize by the mayor of Warsaw on the occasion of the Frederic Chopin International Piano Competition, 2000. He has performed under the baton of many prominent conductors both in Japan and abroad; Seiji Ozawa, Jean Fournet, Emmanuel Krivine, Gary Bertini, Hans Graf, Hubert Soudant, Ken-ichiro Kobayashi, Gerd Arbrecht, Fabio Luisi, and Daniel Harding with orcherstras such as Prague symphony orchestra, Orchestra national de France, NHK symphony orchestra, Yomiuri nippon symphony orchestra, New Japan philharmonic, Sendai symphony orchestra and Yamagata symphony orchestra etc.. In 2002, Kekehashi made his US debut in the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. Other countries where he gave his recitals range from Japan, Europe (including Austria, Germany, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Russia) to South America (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela).