Akane Sakai

Born in Nagoya in Japan, Akane Sakai began her piano studies at early age under the influence of her mother.
She graduated at the Toho-Gakuen school of music (Japan) in the class of Midori Miura, she obtained a 1er prix with excellence guided by Prof. Alan Weiss at Lemmens instituut in Belgium. During her advanced training she was guided by Lilya Zilberstein and Pavel Gililov.
She is the winner of the “Young artist development” prize by the Japanese Ministry of Culture. Ms. Sakai was granted a scholarship by Yellow Angel Foundation (Japan).
She appears regularly in musical scenes such as Philharmonie de Paris, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Palais des Beaux Ars in Brussels, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.
Akane has been invited to perform with renowned orchestras including the Kremerata Baltica, Sinfonia Varsovia, Hamburg Symphoniker, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Tokyo Symphony orchestra. She was directed by Alexander Vedernikov, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Naoto Otomo and Hubert Sudant.
Akane Sakai is often among the invited artists to the important international festivals, such as, La Roque d’Antheron (France), La Folle Journée Nantes and Tokyo (France – Japan), Chopin and his Europe (Poland), Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano (Switzerland), Rhur Klavier Festival (Germany) and Pacific Music Festival (Japan).
She is an appreciated chamber music partner, often performing with Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, Akiko Suwanai, Yuzuko Horigome, Nicholas Angelich, Evgeni Bozhanov, Nelson Goerner, Edgar Moreau, Alexandra Conunova and the much missed Ivry Gitlis.
Ms. Sakai has recorded for Deutshe Grammophon, Warner Classics, Avanti Classic, she made her solo CD debut for King International. Since 2018 she is artistic planner of the Martha Argerich festival in cooperation with Symphoniker-Hamburg Orchestra in Hamburg, Germany.