Michiaki Ueno

Michiaki Ueno won First Prize in the cello division at the Geneva International Music Competition as the first Japanese and three special prizes at the same time in 2021.
He has won numerous prizes: the first ever Japanese winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians at the age of 13. These achievements in the international scenes draw much attention.
Ueno has performed with numerous major orchestras in Japan and abroad, such as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, KBS Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. He won the Nippon Steel Music Awards (Promising New Artist Prize), Beethoven Ring Award, Idemitsu Music Award, and Saito Hideo Memorial Fund Award, 2021 Commendation from the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs.
Ueno has released two solo albums on the La Dolce Volta label, including ORIGIN – A Collection of Japanese Works for Solo Cello.
In May 2026, he gave a second solo recital at Suntory Hall.
After studying at Toho Gakuen School of Music, he went to Germany at the age of 19 invited by Pieter Wispelwey, and then he studied under Gary Hoffman at Queen Elisabeth College of Music, gaining the artist diploma.
Ueno plays the 1730 A. Stradivarius “Feuermann” (on loan from the Sasakawa Music Foundation), and the bow is F. Tourte (from the Yasushi Sumino collection).
Ueno is a resident artist of “Shiiki presents Argerich’s Haus.”