Miyuji Kaneko
was born in 1989 to a Japanese father and a Hungarian mother. At the age of six he moved to Hungary alone to study under the renowned piano instructor Zsuzsa Cs. Nagy, staying at the home of his grandparents while attending the Bartok Elementary School of Music. In 1997 and 2000 he won national piano duet competitions, and in 2001 he won a national piano competition in the 9-to-11-year-old division. In 2001, at the age of 11, Miyuji skipped grades and was accepted to the Special School for Exceptional Young Talents of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where he studied under Professors Gabor Eckhardt, Gyongyi Kevehazi and Rita Wagner.

Having taken all of the courses in the school, Miyuji returned to Japan in 2006, at the age of 16. He was admitted to the Tokyo College of Music High School, where he studied under Kazune Shimizu, Akiyoshi Sako, and Katsuko Miura.

In 2009 Miyuji was selected to be a Chanel Pygmalion Days artist, and regularly performed recitals at Chanel Nexus Hall in Ginza, Tokyo. In October 2010 he released his debut album, “Miyuji Plays Liszt,” which was chosen as a Special Selection of Record Geijutsu Magazine.

Miyuji has won numerous international competitions, including the 2008 Bartok International Piano Competition. In 2011 he won the 12th Hotel Okura Music Award. In 2012 he won the 22nd Idemitsu Music Award, and also became a scholar of the Arkaim Japan-Russia Friendship Association, which was established to support outstanding young artists. In 2013 he was awarded the 2012 Jomo Prize (10th Jomo Art and Culture Prize, Music Division).

Miyuji Kaneko has performed with numerous orchestras, including the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zoltán Kocsis, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ken-ichiro Kobayashi, New Japan Philharmonic, Century Orchestra Osaka (now Japan Century Symphony Orchestra), and Kyoto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tatsuya Shimono. He was also the selected soloist on the European tour of the Tokyo College of Music Symphony Orchestra conducted by Junichi Hirokami, receiving high praise for his performances of the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 in Munich and Vienna. He has performed in many countries, including Hungary, the United States, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Romania, the Czech Republic, Poland and China.

Miyuji graduated at the top of his class from the Tokyo College of Music Piano Performance program, and received a Master of Musical Arts Diploma in the Keyboard division of the Tokyo College of Music Graduate Program. Currently a student in the Doctoral School at Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest. As a 25-year-old rising star of the piano, he has a very promising future. Miyuji Kaneko is a Steinway Artist.

July 2005 - Won the Grand Prix at the Balassagyarmat International Music Festival (Hungary)
October 2005 - Won First Prize at the 11th Konzerteum International Piano Competition (Greece)
January 2006 - Won First Prize at the USASU Schimmel International Piano Competition (U.S.A.)
March 2008 - Won the 1st Great Prize at the 3rd Bartok International Piano Competition (Hungary)