Nobuyuki Tsujii

Blind musician Nobuyuki Tsujii was the first Japanese pianist signed to the Deutsche Grammophon label. He received a gold medal at the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition. Tsujii is also a composer of both concert music and film music. He has recorded for various labels and released his Deutsche Grammophon debut, a recording of Beethoven's difficult Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106 ("Hammerklavier"), in 2024. Tsujii, sometimes known simply as Nobu, was born in Tokyo on September 13, 1986. He was blind from birth due to eye deformations, but at age two, he picked out the notes do, re, mi on a toy piano and went on to show exceptional talent, beginning formal lessons at four. When Tsujii was seven, he took first prize in an all-Japan competition for music-making by blind students sponsored by the Tokyo Helen Keller Association. He made his debut at ten with the Century Orchestra in Osaka, and gave a recital in Tokyo's Suntory Hall at 12. Tsujii went on to tour the U.S., France, and Russia, and in 2005, he was a semifinalist at the 15th International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Some of his performances were issued on the competition's box set compilation that year, and in 2008, he recorded Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester-Berlin under conductor Yutaka Sado. In 2009, he shared the top prize with Haochen Zhang at the Van Cliburn Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, and many of his performances there were issued by the Harmonia Mundi label. Tsujii studied piano at Ueno Gakuen University in Tokyo, graduating in 2011. That year, he made his debut in the main Isaac Stern Auditorium at New York's Carnegie Hall, and in 2013 he performed at the BBC Proms with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Tsujii learns music by ear; Braille music notation exists, but is not available in the variety needed by a professional touring pianist. A team of pianists records music for him, together with necessary performance instructions from the composer. He plays concertos, listening for the breathing of the conductor and the playing of musicians around him; conductor Domingo Hindoyan has said that he does nothing special when performing with Tsujii. Tsujii is also a composer; he premiered his piece Street Corner of Vienna when he was 12, and he has issued various albums of his own music. He has recorded more than 20 albums for Japan's Avex Classics label. Tsujii was signed to Deutsche Grammophon and issued the album Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 "Hammerklavier"; An die ferne Geliebte in 2024. ~ James Manheim, Rovi