Kumi
Matsuo
Kumi Matsuo is a versatile solo and collaborative pianist. She has won numerous competitions including First Prize in the 6th Isidor Bajic Memorial Piano Competition in Serbia and First Prize in the 5th Louisiana International Piano Competition, USA. She is a staff member of the Royal College of Music, working as Duo Coach to the String Faculty, as well as accompanying other instruments.
She studied with Jyoko Gondo and Mikhail Voskresensky at the Toho Gakuen Music High School and the Toho Gakuen College of Music, Tokyo, and then at the Royal College of Music in London, studying with John Blakely and Ashley Wass. She completed her studies there with the awards of Master of Music (with Distinction) and Artist Diploma after which she was invited to be the Anthony Saltmarsh Junior Fellow in Collaborative Piano. Her study was generously supported by Charles Napper Award, the Russell Gander Award and the Rohm Music Foundation.
As soloist and chamber musician Kumi has played extensively in the UK and abroad, performing at venues including Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall, Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Windsor Castle, Royal Albert Hall (Elgar Room), Sinfornia Smith Square, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Bridgewater Hall, St.Georges Bristol, Royal Baths Park in Warsaw, Dubai Opera (Studio), Sociedad Filarmónica de Bilbao, Tokyo Opera City Hall, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan and Kioi Hall in Tokyo.
As well as pursuing her career as partner of many international instrumentalists and accompanying and mentoring talented students at RCM, she has been an official accompanist of Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition and served on the faculty of Keshet Eilon International String Mastercourse, New Virtuosi International Violin Mastercourse, Musica Mundi International Chamber Music Course and Saline Royale Academy.