News
5 March 2025
Yo Kitamura has been awarded the 23rd Saito Hideo Memorial Fund Award.
Yo Kitamura has been awarded the 23rd Saito Hideo Memorial Fund Award in the cello category. In the conducting category, Gen Ota received the award, making both of them the youngest recipients in the history of the prize.
Established in 2002 by the Sony Music Foundation, this award honors the legacy of the late Hideo Saito, a renowned cellist, conductor, and educator. It is presented to young cellists and conductors who have contributed to the development of music, art, and culture and are expected to achieve even greater success in the future.
7 February 2025
The Strad has published an article about the George Enescu International Competition!
31 January 2025
Yo Kitamura won the 26th Hotel Okura Music Award
Yo Kitamura won the 26th Hotel Okura Music Award. Established in 1996 to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Hotel Okura, this prestigious award recognizes and supports outstanding musicians who have demonstrated remarkable achievements in recent years and show great promise for the future.
18 January 2025
Selected as the No. 1 “Most Promising Newcomer of 2024” in ONGAKU NO TOMO
Yo Kitamura was voted No.1 ‘Most Anticipated Newcomer of 2024’ by music critics in the special feature ‘Concert Top Ten & Best Artists 2024’ in the February 2025 issue of the classical music magazine ‘ONGAKU NO TOMO’.
10 January 2025
Tokitada Sakai Music Award Recipient
Yo Kitamura has been selected for the “Tokitada Sakai Music Award” by the Hyogo Prefectural Arts and Culture Association, which recognizes outstanding musical activities within the prefecture and honors promising young musicians expected to excel in the future.
16 November 2024
Yo Kitamura won First Prize at Pablo Casals International Award
Yo Kitamura won first prize at Pablo Casals International Award, one of the most prestigious international competitions for young cellists.
Organized by the Pau Casals Foundation, this competition, named after Casals, is held every two years in El Vendrell, Catalonia, the birthplace of the legendary cellist. The final audition took place on 16 November 2024.
In 2023, Yo Kitamura won the International Johannes Brahms Competition and the 92th Japan Music Competition.In September 2024, he attracted international attention when he became the first Japanese to win the Georges Enescu International Competition, one of the most important competitions in the world.
10 September 2024
Yo Kitamura won George Enescu International Competition 2024
Yo Kitamura achieved a remarkable accomplishment by becoming the first Japanese to win the cello division of the George Enescu International Competition 2024. The cello final took place on September 10 at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, Romania. Kitamura played Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor alongside the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, conducted by Jonathan Bloxham.
Biography
Yo Kitamura was born in Japan in 2004.
In 2024, he won the 1st prize at the George Enescu International Competition and the 1st prize at Pablo Casals International Award.
In 2023, he won the 1st prize and the special prize at the 29th International Johannes Brahms Competition and the 1st prize and five special prizes at the 92th Japan Music Competition, the most prestigious in Japan. He won the 2nd prize at the 2022 Khachaturian International Competition, and the 1st prize unanimously at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in 2017.
He has studied with Prof. Jens-Peter Maintz at the Berlin University of the Arts and Prof. Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at Toho Gakuen College of Music.
He has participated in masterclasses with Wolfgang Boettcher, David Geringas, Steven Isserlis, Philippe Muller, Mischa Maisky, Mario Brunello, Kangho Lee.
He took master classes at the Kronberg Academy in 2018 and 2022 with Jens-Peter Maintz and at the Cello Academy Rutesheim in 2019 with Claudio Borques.
He made his orchestra debut at the age of 9, and his recital debut at 10. His Suntory Hall debut as a soloist at age 11, performing the Haydn Cello Concerto in C major. He has performed with numerous professional orchestras, working with conductors Kenichiro Kobayashi, Ken Takaseki, Naoto Otomo, Sachio Fujioka, and Kazuki Yamada, Andrei Feher, Alfredo Sorichetti and many more.
In 2020, he earned outstanding reviews when he substituted for Julian Steckel in a concert conducted by Michiyoshi Inoue with Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.
Yo Kitamura won the Hotel Okura Music Award, the Tokitada Sakai Music Award, the Arion Music Award, and the Kirishima International Music Festival Award.
He is a recipient of the 52th Ezoe Memorial Recruit Foundation scholarship and the ROHM Music Foundation scholarship.
He plays a 1668 “Casini” cello, on loan from Ueno Fine Chemicals Industry, Ltd.
Media
Kitamura is an undeniable musical talent, and while his playing was veiled in humility, the pure, unbridled joy within him was finally released in a triumphant and ovation-deserving finale.
— The Strad
Exceptional in Technique, Musicality, and Tone.
— Weekly Economist
Lush, richly singing strings echoed through the intimate hall, and I couldn't take my ears off the music for a moment until the finale.
A cellist has emerged who makes you want to keep listening.
— MOSTLY CLASSIC
The music was performed with extraordinary concentration and spirit, and there was not the slightest moment of forceful, twisting and turning with technique.
— ONGAKU NO TOMO
It won't be long before Yo Kitamura's unique music is recognised worldwide through diverse exchanges that transcend generations and nationalities.
— Sarasate
Photos
Videos
Dvorak: Cello Concerto
Haydn: Cello Concerto No.1 C major 1st mov.
Khachaturian: Concerto-Rhapsody
Haydn: Cello Concerto No.1 C major 3rd mov.
Concerts
New Year's Concert 2025
11 January 2025, 15:00
Saitama Kaikan Main Hall
Conductor: Shigeo Genda
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
Cello:Tatsuki Sasanuma
Cello:Michiaki Ueno
Cello:Yo Kitamura
Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme in A major, op.33 (Kitamura)
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No.1 in E flat major, op.107 (Ueno)
Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor op.104 (Sasanuma)
