Ueno Michiaki

As the winner of the 75th Geneva International Music Competition 2021 and Bonn’s Beethoven Ring Award 2024, Michiaki Ueno has proven to be one of the most promising artists on the classical music scene.

Born in Paraguay in 1995, Michiaki started his cello studies at the age of five. At the age of eleven, he gave his first concerto performance in Tokyo. This later led to his success in becoming the first ever Japanese winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in 2009. A year later, he won first prize in the Romanian International Music Competition. He won first prize in the International Johannes Brahms Competition in 2014.

As a soloist, Michiaki has performed with numerous orchestras such as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra among many others. As a chamber musician, he has shared the platform with artists including Jean-Guihen Queyras.

Michiaki has received musical education from the late Shoichi Baba, Iñaki Etxepare, and Hakuro Mohri. He also studied with Pieter Wispelwey in Düsseldorf and Gary Hoffman in Belgium.

Michiaki plays a P.A. Testore cello on loan from the Munetsugu Collection, using a F. Tourte bow on loan from the Sumino Taishi Collection.