The Special Intensive Seminar will feature Debussy

The special intensive seminar will feature "Debussy" as the year of his 150th anniversary. The lecture will be conducted on May 6th by Kazuoki FUJII. 続き

Teachers are Willing to Continue Learning; 170% Increase in Stage Appearance

Piano Teachers become more and more willing to appear on stage as one of the continuing learning processes. In 2011, over 650 teachers took part in STEP, that is almost 170% increase during the last 5 years. Those teachers not only participate for their own learning but also joining with their students as colleagues or collaborators (duo, trio, etc). 続き

PTNA News Letter 2011 is Released!

PTNA News Letter has been published and delivered abroad every year to inform reports about events and activities of PTNA throughout the year. In 2011, it was sent out to 37 countries across the world. The cover story was "After 3.11 in Japan, Revival through Music" that describes the immediate reactions of PTNA members after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11th, and charity activities that followed across the nation. 続き

Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Foundation, Acknowledged as Public Interest Association

Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Foundation that supports young talented pianists to study abroad is acknowledged as a public interest incorporated association on December 15th 2011, by the Cabinet Office of the Goverment of Japan. Back in 2002, the 1st scholarship audition was held after the will of the late Yasuko Fukuda (founder of PTNA) to discover young distinguished pianists and to offer 1 million yen scholarship. The activity has grown since then, while being loyal to its original purpose. 続き

How About Building 'My Page' on PTNA Piano Encyclopedia?

PTNA Piano Encyclopedia will launch 'My Page' service from next April 2012. This online encyclopedia contains a number of sound data, list of composers and pianists, information of piano pieces. It aims at encouraging customers to enjoy their music lives by using those information in more efficient and personal way. 続き

General Musicianship Workshop Series 2012 is Coming!

The new program of the General Musicianship Workshop Series is announced. This is the 3rd season from 2010, starting on April 2012 to March 2013. Each lecture will be held between 10:30-12:30 at the To-on Hall (Tokyo) and e-learning service is also available from 10 days after each session. 続き

What is the Meaning and Effect of having Concerts?

PTNA is supporting concerts promotion for pianists in various aspects; public announcement, ticket selling, introduction of sound data etc. We receive about 350 applications par year, among which, PCC Piano Duo (Toru Masuko, Masaki Saibara) counts the highest number of application since 2009, 36 times. Rintaro AKAMATSU follows this duo group, who has applied 20 times in 2 years. He says that concert is the space that he can share the 'chemical reaction' between audience, and therefore, he believes it strengthens the willpower to put out nothing but the truth though music. 続き

PTNA gave presentation at FACP Conference

The annual conference of FACP (Federation for Asian Cultural Promotion) was held on November 3-5th in Manila, the Philippines. Seikoh Fukuda,CEO of PTNA and one of the FACP governers gave a speech in the framework of "Asian Gems". As the representative of the independent organization, he introduced that PTNA is responsible for its policy and finance, and explained how it discovers and nurtures young talents by offering them musical experiences. 続き

Three PTNA Prize Winners' Concerts In The Coming Months!

PTNA winners' concerts will be held in the coming months! They will be the concert for solo and duo categories, for Grandmuse category, and for gold and silver medalists of grade superior and G. Here is the overall repertoires in chronological order. 続き

PTNA Piano Seminar Encourages 'Theory and Practice' Repeatedly

Since 2007, PTNA piano seminars have been held almost 300 venues par year across Japan. It encourages piano teachers to study further about the subjects / topics of piano pedagogy, performance, interpretation, etc. The number of the reports being submitted has reached 30,182. It shows how teachers are enthusiastic in keep developing their professional knowledges and skills. 続き

Jazz Jazz Jazz STEP!

Jazz-oriented STEP will be launched on February 19th under the direction of Prof.Eriko AKIYA. Prof.Akiya graduated Berklee College of Music in Boston where she studied composition and arrangement, and received Quincy Jones Award. After continued her study in the Juilliard School, she came back to Japan and found that there existed a big boundary between classical music and jazz that students hardly go across. 続き

Music Created and Developed by the Dialogue Between Teacher and Students

Necessity is the mother of invention; A piano teacher and composer Miho ABE, frequently compose music for her students in order to fit in their needs of technical challenges and exploration of expressions. Her music is, so to speak, created and even developed by the dialogues between teacher and students. 続き

2012 New Season Programs of PTNA Public Recording Concert

PTNA is pleased to announce the new programs of PTNA Public Recording Concert for the year 2012. Since the beginning of 2010, this concert series has been held 15 times, and the number of newly recorded pieces has reached 116. Now they are available on PTNA Piano Encyclopedia, and also reachable through youtube. 続き

A Teacher From Fukushima Resumes STEP Station in Tokyo

6 months have passed since the earthquake occurred. After the days of shock and grief, many musicians have been trying to take a step forward to restore their own musical activities. A piano teacher from Fukushima, Mitsue SOEDA, moved in her hometown Tokyo this spring. She transferred the administration office of her STEP station which she had established in Fukushima 7 years ago ("Namie Station"), and renamed it into "Kyodo Melody Station". This renewed station will organize STEP in February 2012. 続き

Requests & Opinions Led Us New Proposals; Memorial Concert for A2 Grade

PTNA has been trying to respond to as many requests and opinions from piano teachers and students in order to renovate our projects and schemes. Among them, one of the biggest renovations was in A2 grade, the lowest age group of PTNA Piano Competition, where the final round was replaced to be the memorial concert. 続き

MUSSE On-demand Publishing Encourages Composition and Arrangement

MUSSE, on-demand online sheet music publishing service, encourages composers, pianists, piano teachers etc. to publish their original or arranged pieces. Herewith PTNA introduces some of our members' recent activities. 続き

Winners Announced! PTNA Piano Competition & Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Audition

35th PTNA Piano Competition announced on August 22nd, that Tomoki SAKATA (17) won the Grand Prize this year. He showed stunning 50min solo performance at the semi-final round, and outstanding concerto performance at the final round with Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra (cond.Chikara Iwamura). 続き

Reports of Educational Programmes In Music Festivals

In summer, music festivals are being held everywhere in the world. Recently many of them integrate educational programmes for young talented musicians into festival agenda. Under the relaxed atmosphere, young musicians meet professional artists and masters to learn and work together. This time, PTNA introduces 5 reports of renowned festivals in Europe to learn how those programmes work. Some PTNA members and young pianist also join teaching and studying. 続き

7 Semi Finalists Were Announced At Grade Superior

7 semi-finalists of the grade superior (no age limit) were officially announced. They will play 50 min solo performances including one Japanese piece, on August 18th at Daiichi-Seimei Hall in Tokyo. 続き

A Seminar on Required Repertoires of Mozart Music Competition 2012

The 16th Japan Mozart Music Competition junior section will be held in the beginning of 2012. Prior to the competition, a special seminar of required repertoires will be held on September 21st. Three renowned professors specialized in research of Mozart will give lectures; Bin Ebisawa, Kikuko Ogura and Yasumi Taki. 続き

A Special Lecture Explores Transitions of Liszt's Composition and Life Style

PTNA will hold a special lecture on a theme of Franz Liszt on September 24th. Prof.Yukio Nomoto will give 6 hours intensive lecture. The lecture will be divided into three sections; Liszt's technical explorations, personal life, and his transcriptions. 続き

PTNA Launches New Internship Program for College Students

PTNA will accept student pianists to visit and play for school kids on a volunteer basis. This is a part of PTNA School Concert Project that was started in 2005. Since its establishment, a number of piano teachers and pianists, including PTNA grand prize winners, have visited local schools to give 45 minutes talk concerts. Sometimes they play with other instruments or singers. PTNA extends this opportunity to music college students so that they could create a concert by their own hands within an established platform. 続き

Programs for 5th Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Audition

The 5th Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Audition will be held from August 23rd to 26th in Tokyo. 9 candidates will take lessons by three international juries each and play 30 minutes recital at the final concert. International juries this year are Prof. Alexander Braginsky, Prof.William Grant Naboré and Prof. Katarzyna Popowa-Zydron. 続き

PTNA will invite, for the first time, student jury members at the semi-final round of grade superior at 35th PTNA Piano Competition. The target age is from junior high school students to post graduate college students. PTNA will accept any number of students applied, but ask to attend the lecture held prior to the semi-final. 続き

Charity Activities, A Step Forward to Get Music Back In Life

After the earthquake on March 11th, musicians across Japan are looking for ways to support suffered and evacuated people. Besides collecting donations, a variety of activities started to help them recover their music lives. 続き

PTNA Piano STEP Commemorates its 15th Anniversary

PTNA Piano STEP, inaugurated in 1996, will organize 'Special STEP for 15th Anniversary ' on November 27th at Hamarikyu Asahi Hall in Tokyo. It will invite public participation on the first-come-first-served basis, but ensemble groups will be given priority. 続き

Devastated, But Not Despaired - Reports of Charity Concerts in Japan

Two months has passed since the huge earthquake hit the coastline of Northeast Japan on March 11th. Everyone was astonished with the overwhelming power of nature, as well as the fragility of human beings and the things that human have created. Historically, many musicians in the world gave charity concerts in the face of such disasters, like Franz Liszt and Gustav Mahler who commemorate bicentennial birth anniversary and centennial of his death this year. Now a lot of musicians across the world do whatever they could do to help this situation, and people in Japan wholeheartedly appreciate those generosities. The following reports introduce several charitable activities by Japanese musicians through the platform of PTNA. 続き

In-Depth Study Of Competition Repertoires By E-Learning Service

PTNA started the e-learning service in the beginning of this year, and now several programmes are available. One of them is the special lecture of the repertoires of 35th PTNA Piano Competition held on March 1st-2nd. As preliminary rounds of the competition begin this week, it is expected to further the in-depth study by live lecture video and repertoire analysis. 続き

PTNA Winners' Concert Was Held in Osaka. Videos Are Available!

PTNA Winners' Concert was held on April 30th at the Phoenix Hall in Osaka. It is the first time that grand winners' concert was taken place out of Tokyo in the last three decades. 27 pianists including 3 duos appeared on stage and were given a round of applause from the audience that filled the hall. 続き

A Report About History and Current Trends Among International Competitions

PTNA, as the largest piano teachers' membership association and the organizer of the biggest competition in Japan, always try to make research on the latest trends in piano education. This time PTNA introduces a report about international competitions, after received news of the victory of two Japanese pianists at major competitions; Mami HAGIWARA (1st in Geneva International Music Competition 2010 / PTNA student member) and Masataka GOTO (1st in Liszt International Piano Competition 2011 / Grandprix of 2004 PTNA Piano Competition. 続き

What PTNA Do For Promoting New Japanese Compositions?

PTNA Piano Competition has a long tradition to adopt and promote Japanese compositions, which was started at commission-basis and then became public audition since 1987. The following 7 new pieces by Japanese composers are adopted as required repertoires of PTNA Piano Competition 2011. 続き

International Careers of Yasuko Fukuda Prize Winners Expand

Tomoki SAKATA (2009 Yasuko Fukuda Prize, 17) and Fuyuko NAKAMURA (2009 Prize of Excellence, 18) appeared at the Musical Kremlin Festival on April 13th in Moscow & 14th in Bryansk. They were invited by Prof.Nikolai Petrov, who attended the Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Audition as a jury member in 2009. 続き

PTNA members in Miyagi and Fukushima try to resume their music lives

One month has passed since the earthquake occurred in the northeast of Japan, and PTNA members living in surrounding areas are still suffering from the aftermaths. The restoration is still on the long way. But they don't relinquish their passion for music, and are trying to do their best to regain their music lives. We would like to introduce what the local teachers are doing in the last one month. 続き

Prize Winners' Concert in Osaka will replace Tokyo

PTNA Prize Winners' Special Concert will be held in Osaka on April 30th. It will replace the concert in Tokyo which was recently cancelled due to the earthquake. The program consists of two parts; I.solo performances by 12 pianists and II. solo and duo performances. 続き

PTNA Lends TO-ON Hall For Free To Charity Concerts Organizers

PTNA will lend the TO-ON Hall to people... 続き

What is the mission of piano teachers now?

In the middle of the latest disaster being reported everyday, many musicians might think that how they can help this situation, what they can do for others and for themselves. 続き

First, we would like to express deep condolences to the people who suffer from the huge earthquake in northeastern Japan on March 11th. It is reported that aftermaths of the earthquake such as tsunami, explosions at nuclear power plants, shortage of foods and energy supply, are pervading in surrounding areas. Under these circumstances, we greatly appreciate the generosity of our members who wish to offer donations through PTNA to the victims. 続き

PTNA Starts E-learning Service!

PTNA starts e-learning service to encourage larger number of piano teachers and students to do in-depth study at home, by providing live videos of major PTNA seminars and lectures. The first program is 'Special Lecture on the Repertoires of 35th PTNA Piano Competition' which was held on March 1st-2nd (VTR). The 2nd one, 'PTNA Teachers' Seminar vol.43' followed. 続き

PTNA expresses deep condolences to those... 続き

Materials for Supporting Analytical Study on Repertoires

PTNA starts selling the materials to support analytical study of required repertoires of the 2011 PTNA Piano Competition. There are three volumes; for elementary grades (A2, A1, B & duo), intermediate grades (C & duo) and for advanced grades (D, E, F ). The analytical descriptions are written by 8 professors and music scholars. 続き

The brochure of 35th PTNA Piano Competition is now available. PTNA Piano Competition has been providing opportunities to piano students, since 1977, esthetic and stylistic learning of four periods from Baroque to Modern. This year, the repertoires are announced on March 1st for solo and duo divisions, followed by the special seminars for teachers to deepen the understanding and interpretations. PTNA is also providing supporting materials for their learning; analytical scores, demonstration CDs, demonstration performance with orchestral accompaniment (CD), etc. 続き

Performance videos now available; 2010 Oji Award Winner's Concert

The joint concert of '2010 Oji Award' winners was held on February 11th at Oji Hall in Tokyo. This is the award given to the gold and silver laureates of grade superior and grade G of PTNA Piano Competition. A number of audience came to enjoy the performances of the four winners. Videos are now available. 続き

Group Application Will Encourage Musical Exchanges (Piano STEP)

PTNA will start accepting the participants as a group in the PTNA Piano STEP from April 2011, in response to the steady increase in the number of ensemble performances. Components of group can be various, string ensembles, jazz piano trio, chorus, group rythmique or whatever, which does not even necessarily include piano. 続き

Prize Winners' Concert of Grandmuse division (amateurs) on Feb.19th

Prize winners' concert of Grandmuse division at PTNA Piano Competition 2010 will be held on February 19th. 12 soloists and 2 duo groups will appear at Hakuju Hall in Tokyo. 続き

Building Up Listening Environement as one of PTNA Membership Services

PTNA offers members various opportunities to "play", "listen","learn" music, and "communicate" with various musicians. Those factors are indispensable and interacted each other in the process of becoming better teachers and musicians. This time we would like to introduce what we have been doing in the recent years, to improve their listening environment. 続き

Thinking about the social / economic value of concerts

Organizing concerts for young promising pianists is one of the major projects of PTNA. In the past few years, the growing interest of 'music in the society' concept brought musicians outside of halls and go to towns and schools. Seikoh Fukuda (Secretary and CEO of PTNA, president of To-on Kikaku co.) has an aim to make beneficial collaboration with music and society; music could uplift spirit of people as well as to enrich values of things around us. 続き

Networking Local Piano Competitions Provides Diversity in Learning Environment

From 2010, PTNA has taken the role of agents of several local piano competitions in Japan, apart from our PTNA Piano Competition. In expectation of bigger numbers of participants and a wider variety of talents, five local piano competitions have come to join this program so far. One of the partners, Aichi piano competition had 294 applicants and nearly 60% of them applied through PTNA. What is the advantage to apply through this affiliated program? 続き

Revisions In Teachers' Examination 2011

Owing to the rise in the number of the participants of the Teachers' Examination, the complete examination which upskills multiple elements in piano teaching, PTNA makes it more comprehensive and systematic. And from this year, the prize of excellence is given to the successful candidates who record high scores. 続き

Study Seminars for PTNA Piano Competition 2011 will be held next March

Teachers' seminars for the 35th PTNA Piano Competition 2011 will be held on March 1st (solo) at Hamarikyu-Asahi Hall and and 2nd (duo) at Yamaha Hall. This aims at helping piano teachers to study further about the required repertoires, which are divided into four periods. 続き

Pianists for 'Public Recording Concert Series' 2011-2012 are announced

The schedule and pianists for the Public Recording Concert Series in the season 2011-2012 are announced; Akiko EBI (April), Romain DESCHARMES (May), Mineko TSUCHIYA (June), Shohei SEKIMOTO(July), Rintaro AKAMAMTSU (Sept). This concert series is launched last April, aiming at recording, filming and sharing the music on the website library "PTNA Piano Encyclopedia". Next year, a new collaboration with Senkawa Avenue Hall will also begin. 続き

Prof.Yuko NINOMIYA, vice president of PT... 続き

PTNA becomes a member of the Honorary C... 続き

"Workshops for Comprehensive Musicianship" for 2011

A series of "Workshop for Comprehensive Musicianship", started in 2010, announces its new programme for 2011. It aims at nurturing the all-round musicianship to encourage pianists to be independent musicians. In its second year, the programme will become more intensive and require active participation. The e-learning system will also be available. 続き

PTNA is awarded 'Chopin Relief' from the Embassy of Poland

The Grand Reception to celebrate the bi... 続き

Regulations for grade superior at 2011 PTNA Piano Competition announced

The regulations for grade superior at the 35th PTNA Piano Competition is announced. There will be three rounds; the 1st round (June-July), the 2nd round (August 4th-5th), the semi-final round for solo recital (August 18th) and the final round for concerto (August 21st). Those who do not fulfill the prerequisites must to take the live preaudition in May. 続き

Mami Hagiwara won 65th Geneva International Music Competition

Ms.Mami Hagiwara (PTNA student member) ... 続き

Announcement for Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Audition 2011

Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Audition announces the guideline and schedule of the next edition in 2011. This audition consists of two stages; document screening and three lessons and a concert. Application is allowed to young pianists under 17 as of April 1st 2011, who have already awarded at least best prize at C grade or higher at PTNA piano competition. 続き

Manabi-Pia 2010, An Event For Lifelong Learning in Kochi

The 22nd "Manabi-Pia" will be held on November 21st in Kochi prefecture, south west part of Japan. This event symbolizing the utopia (pia) for study (manabi) is to encourage the lifelong learning and has been organized by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in collaboration with prefectural government, local corporations and institutions. It was inaugurated in 1989 with the presentation of 111 grand pianos played by 111 amateur pianists of all generations. 続き

Tickets on sale! PTNA Prize Winners' Concerts

Prize winners of PTNA Piano Competition 2010 will appear in the concerts scheduled next February and March. Now ticket reservation is available on PTNA website. Tomoyo UMEMURA, the grand prize winner of the special grade, will play Chopin Polonaise-Fantasie op.61 and Sonata op.35 at Oji Hall Prize concert on 11th February. Atsushi IMADA (Silver prize), Mayuko MOTOYAMA (Gold prize in G grade), Akari MIZUMOTO (Silver prize in G grade) will also appear. 続き

PTNA Teachers' Lesson Tour begins in December

PTNA Lesson tour, started in 2009, will begin its 4th session from the beginning of December. 15 piano teachers across Japan will host fellow teachers to their lesson studios. Due to the limited number of the acceptance, there will be drawing after the deadline on November 20th. 続き

Peter Rösel will give masterclass to 2 PTNA winners

Peter Rösel, a world renowned German pianist, will give masterclass to two PTNA young pianists. This is organized in collaboration with Kioi hall (Tokyo) where he has been giving recitals for complete Beethoven sonatas from 2008. He will give masterclass on Oct. 4th, in between the solo recitals on Oct.2th and 14th. 続き

Tomoyo Umemura won the Grand Prize!

Tomoyo Umemura (22) won the grand prize of 34th PTNA Piano Competition. On August 22nd, the final round of the special grade was held in Tokyo, where four finalists appeared on stage with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Chikara Iwamura. Among the finalists, Umemura, the only female finalist this year, played Beethoven 5th Emperor concerto with full energy and beautiful interpretation. 続き

4 finalists are announced at the special grade

The semi-final round of the special grade of PTNA Piano Competition was held on August 19th at Daiichi Seimei Hall (Tokyo), 4 finalists were announced after 7 semi-finalists played solo recitals between 45-55min; Masahiro YAMAGUCHI (24), Jun KANEKO (23), Tomoyo UMEMURA (21), Atsushi IMADA (19) 続き

PTNA Piano Competition announced 7 semi-finalists (special grade)

7 semi-finalists are announced at the special grade of PTNA Piano Competition, as the result of 2nd round held on August 4th-5th. They will play solo recitals at the semi-final round on August 19th, then four of them will be chose to be finalists and play concerto on August 22nd. Please see their names and repertoires for both rounds. All the performances will be broadcasted on Ustream, and live reports by 4 opinion leaders will be available on twitter (see). 続き

PTNA plays an important role to encourage Japanese works to be played, and produced. In PTNA Piano Competition, all participants are required to prepare pieces of four periods, Baroque, Classic, Roman, Modern, and one Japanese piece is assigned at each grade, as a part of the repertoires of Modern period. Thus, participants get familiar with Japanese music from their early stage. This year, the statistics shows Japanese pieces are frequently selected, especially in the lower grades between A1 to C. 続き

PTNA Piano Encyclopedia for Kids & All!

PTNA Piano Encyclopedia for All, is established for all people including kids. It is characterized as Edutainment, compared to the regular version (PTNA Piano Encyclopedia) , data base of over 20,000 piano pieces. As you enter into this new encyclopedia, you can see brief explanations of 16 important composers from Baroque to Modern period, such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Rachmaninov, etc.. 続き

A new way to enjoy competition - 1 Ustream and 4 Twitters

PTNA proposes a new way to enjoy the competition, thanks to Ustream and twitter, by giving live streaming and text-based live reports at the same time. It will be taken place at the semi-final solo recital on August 19th, and the final round piano concerti on August 22nd (special grade). 4 opinion leaders will be twittering while the performances being broadcasted by Ustream. 続き

STEP, expanding its regional influence

Rich musical experience can be realized by the collective ideas of individual teachers and the dense network of local community. PTNA Piano STEP, the concert style evaluation, has been expanding its number of venues and participants since 1996 and now it is organized at approximately 400 venues throughout the nation. From its origin, it has been kept deeply rooted in local communities, while PTNA Piano Competition is organized at the strict national standard. Each venue (Station) is organized by local piano teachers and they freely put individual ideas and plans to use, in order to encourage paricipants to have rich musical experience 続き

Brief Interview of Eisuke Tsuchida for PTNA Festival

PTNA Piano Festival will be held on 24th August, having two distinguished professors as lecturers: Prof.Robert Levin (US) and Prof. Eisuke Tsuchida. Here is a brief interview of Prof.Tsuchida, talking about his plans and points of the lecture. 続き

Grandmuse pianists get together on facebook

Lots of 'Grandmuse pianists', defined to be the amateurs who have taken part in PTNA Piano Competition grandmuse division, is growing its network through facebook. News and announcements, concerning to the activities of members and events, are distributed on the non-regular basis (written in Japanese). Through the world largest SNS, this amateur pianists network will be expected to grow globally. If you have interest, please join us! 続き

Two days masterclass for Jr.G grade finalists

Masterclass for Jr.G grade (PTNA Piano Competition) was held on June 12-13th at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music. Prof.LIM Chong-Pil, professor of Korea National University of Arts, gave masterclass for 14 finalists, who were chosen from the preliminary audition. 続き

How to be an Agent of Other Piano Competitions?

PTNA takes a role of an agent... 続き

Renewal of MUSSE enlarges ondemand publishing service

The on-demand publishing service, Musse is renewed from June. Now it enables to reproduce the color printing of the original texts/scores, as well as to produce the new editions with multiple colors. It is proved by a new publication "Study Scores for J.S.Bach Invention", written by Yasuko Nakayama (ex-vice president of PTNA, professor emeritus of Tokyo University of Music and Fine Arts), which has just come out from Musse. 続き

PTNA Online Article Goes to Publishing

Online article titled "Piano in 19th cen... 続き

PTNA young pianists appear in Area concerts (La Folle Journée au Japon)

"Univers of Chopin"- As the 200th anniversary of Chopin, the well-known classic music festival "La Folle Journée au Japon" will feature Chopin this year. In the neighborhood, satellite concert series (Area Concerts) will be held from April 28th- May 4th at Marunouchi area, adjoined to this festival. 90 concerts will be scheduled at 10 different places in 7 days, where lots of PTNA young pianists will play Chopin etc. 続き

"Haydn and Mozart" by two outstanding lecturers in 63rd PTNA Piano Festival

63rd PTNA Piano Festival will be held on August 24th, on the theme of Haydn and Mozart, to compare and explore new perspectives on the two great composers in the classical period. Two distinguished guests will serve as lecturers; Prof.Robert Levin and Prof.Eisuke Tsuchida. 続き

Popular music, free spirit and systematic approach

Popular music is one of the important ways to get involved in the music learning, both for children and adults. According to the recent survey on the popularity, Disney animation songs and soundtracks of Miyazaki films (Studio Ghibli) appear on higher rank than others. Especially children are likely to play music which they hear frequently on TV or films. 続き

Young Talents Sparkled at Prize Winners Concert

Prize winners concert of 33rd PTNA Piano Competition was held on March 22nd in Tokyo. Winners of solo division (A1 to special grade) and duo division played on the stage of prestigious Daiichi-Seimai hall. You can see performance videos on youtube. 続き

A Variety of Chopin Projects in 2010

In 2010, the bicentennial anniversary of Chopin, PTNA plans a variety of projects for piano teachers to explore the music of this great composer in the 19th century. Two major projects which PTNA organizes will be the observation tour of Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw (October) and the special lecture concert of Chopin (May). 続き

Research on Top 20 Piano Lessons (special magazine)

A special magazine for piano teachers titled "Special Research on Top 20 Piano Lessons - discover how to make students improve" is published by Yamaha Music Media. This is based on PTNA online article series "Lesson Room Reviews", featuring 20 eminent piano teachers in Japan. Each of them has rich experiences, high achievements, and strong motivation for the music and human education. 続き

To learn "how to learn" at PTNA piano competition

PTNA Piano Competition is regarded as "a learning opportunity to learn how to learn" and PTNA gives variety of learning materials for piano teachers and students. 34th edition of the competition will be held from May - August 2010, and the guideline and required repertoires will be announced on March 1st. 続き

Collaboration with CHOPIN magazine

PTNA starts a collaboration with CHOPIN magazine for celebrating the 200th anniversary of Chopin. CHOPIN magazine makes transcription scores of Chopin for appendix, while PTNA makes performance VTR. 続き

Renewal of the youngest age group in PTNA Piano Competition

Competition for children--- it always becomes the center of question. Then, why not competition and concert? In PTNA Piano Competition 2010, the system of grade A2 (for pre-school kids) will be revised. At the final round, after 1st and 2nd stages, finalists will play pieces as in a concert. There will be neither evaluation nor elimination, just have pleasure of public performance. 続き

Lecture Concert of Chopin on a theme of dance

PTNA will hold a lecture concert of Chopin on May 3rd on a theme of "dance". Prof.Hitoshi Kobayashi, a pianist and the representative of The Frederic Chopin Society in Japan, will give detailed lecture on Mazurka, Waltz and Polonaise. 続き

New Year Message from CEO

We hope the year 2010 will bring lots of chances to piano teachers. There are many incentives such as social system changes in Japan, and also 200th anniversary of Chopin would bring a great musical excitement. PTNA always hope to share ideas, and try to launch new projects according to wants and needs of piano teachers and students. 続き

Aimi KOBAYASHI will perform in Teenage Pianist Concert Series

PTNA offers performance opportunities for promising teenage pianists to play before public. In April 2010, Aimi KOBAYASHI (14) who has just released her debut CD this month from EMI Classics. Aimi won the gold prize in Jr.G grade(under 18) in 2004 when she was only 9 years old. Her performance video has gained over millions of hits on youtube. 続き

AKira IMAI, invited by 1st Councurs Internacional Badura Skoda

The 1st Concurs Internacional Badura Sko... 続き

Aki KURODA Appears On New Italian Web TV "LIMENMUSIC"

Aki KURODA, a pianist living in Milano, ... 続き

Ensemble performance becomes more a... 続き

Emiko Harimoto receives award from Ministry

Prof.Emiko HARIMOTO, an associate member of PTNA Executive committee, received an award from MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) commemorating her long term dedication to social education, as one of the representatives of the nationwide association PTNA. On November 20th, the awarding ceremony was held in the assembly hall in the Ministry. 続き

Public Recording Concert will be launched

Public Recording Concert will be launched from February at To-on Hall (Tokyo). It aims at recording, filming and putting the music on the website library, "PTNA Piano Encyclopedia". 1,000 pieces of audio tracks are available at present, out of 18,000 pieces of list. It is likely that same pieces are played lots of times at concerts, but other unknown pieces are rarely played or no chance to be performed, on the other hand. Therefore PTNA would like to gather different audio tracks to fill in the rest of the list one by one. 続き

Two young pianists won prizes in Asia-Pacific Chopin Competition

In the 1st Asia-Pacific International C... 続き

Megumi Tanno(PTNA member) won the 1st p... 続き

Let's play popular music at public entertainment space (Tokyo)

Popular music will be focused on PTNA Piano STEP in Odaiba,Tokyo (3/14). STEP known for its variety of levels, repertoires and participants, it also allows any music genres to play. On March 14th, 14 participants chosen by audition will play film music arranged in poplar style. 続き

STEP, collaboration with piano magazine starts

PTNA Piano STEP will collaborate with "Monthly Piano" magazine (Yamaha Music Media Corporation). Every month, several arranged music scores are published on this magazine, from popular music, sound tracks from movies and TV shows, classical music, etc. Bunkyo Spring STEP, scheduled on February 2010, will favourably accept participants who will play pieces from those arranged scores. 続き

Collaborators of School Concert Project reaches 100 this year

School Concert Project began in 2005 and pianists have been dispatched and played in 358 public schools in 42 prefectures(out of 47) so far. The network expands steadily and as a result, the number of collaborating schools this year reaches 100. Here, we would like to introduce the five ways of running this project. 続き

Lesson studio visiting program will be launched

Lesson studio visiting program is designed for piano teachers who would like to study under senior experienced teachers. 18 leading teachers across Japan will cooporate this program and accept 2-10 young teachers. It aims at sharing experiences of advanced piano teaching with younger fellows. 続き

Two PTNA members published books, "Coaching" and "Self-education"

One of the PTNA members, Rie Aoki publi... 続き

World-renowned pianist Lang Lang, the brand ambassador of Sony Corporation, gave a piano masterclass on September 20th in Tokyo. Two PTNA young pianists, Tomoharu Ushida and Shion ohta played each piece and got advice from the pianist. Lang Lang spoke highly of Ms.Ohta for her music sensibility, and Mr.Ushida was praised of his clear, beautiful sound. 続き

Two PTNA pianists study at Lang Lang Workshop

A piano workshop with Lang Lang will take place in Tokyo on September 20th, held by Sony Corporation, and two PTNA young pianists were selected to be his students. This workshop is designed for young pianists under 9 years old, the new generation that this world renowned pianist actively involved in supporting outstanding talents. Among 8 candidates - prize winners of 33rd PTNA Piano Competition 2009, Lang Lang himself chose his students by their performance videos on youtube (PTNA Channel). 続き

VTR from 2009 PTNA Piano Competition special grade

We are pleased to introduce selected videos from 2009 PTNA Piano Competition special grade, semi-final (recital) and final round (concerto). 続き

Tomoki Sakata won 2009 Yasuko Fukuda Prize

Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Audition was held on August 25th-28th in Tokyo, and Sakata Tomoki (15) won the Yasuko Fukuda prize, followed by Fuyuko Nakamura, the prize of excellence. Another three candidates, Yurika Kimura, Natsumi Kuboyama and Akane Ikuma took the third position, the prize of encouragement. 続き

Mizuho Nakada won the grand prize 2009

The awarding ceremony of 33rd PTNA Piano Competition was held on August 24th, and Ms.Mizuho Nakada(23) won the grand prize. 続き

4 Finalists of special grade announced

4 finalists of special grade were announced on August 20th as below. They will play piano concerti on 23rd with Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra (cond. Chikara Iwamura). The final round of all the grades have been held from 21th, and all the result will be announced on 24th. 続き

"2009 PTNA Teachers'Award" announced 337 recipients

337 piano teachers won "2009 PTNA Teachers' Award" announced last week. Three of them received 30 times so far (Mitsuyo Esaki, Katsuko Kaneko, Toyoko Matsugi) and 42 are the recipients for the first time. The awarding ceremony will be held on August 24th. 続き

PTNA Piano Competition: 7 Semi-Finalists in Special Grade

The 33rd PTNA Piano Competition, began in the end of June, is now on the process of 2nd rounds. In the special grade (no age limit), 7 contestants were chosen to be semi-finalists and will give solo recitals on August 20th. Please find their name and repertoires below. 続き

Two major events for promoting young talents

Two major events to promote young talents, PTNA Piano Competition and Yasuko Fukuda Scholarship Audition, are waiting for their final stage at the end of August. Tickets will be available online from July 31st. The Special grade of PTNA Piano Competition will have its semi-final round (solo recital) on August 20th, and final round on 23rd (concerto) both at Daiichi Seimei Hall, Tokyo. 続き

Reports: Workshop "Connect" by Guildhall School of Music

We are pleased to introduce interviews ... 続き

How to make good musical environment and parenthood?

How to be good parents for children who study music? Recently the "parenthood" becomes a subject to be learned. In cooperation with The Nippon Foundation, PTNA organizes several lecture-concerts on the theme of "parenthood (how to be good parents)" led by music teachers and pianists, as well as experts in the educational fields. 続き

The New Way of Making Promotion of Concerts

Synergism becomes a key to make wider promotion of concerts in Japan. PTNA expands the promotion service of its supporting concerts in terms of ticket selling and production of concert videos, in collaboration with related companies. Both are on-demand basis, regardless of the membership. 続き

Review: Statistics of repertoire choices in STEP 2008

Statistics would be a good reference for teachers to take better measures in their teaching. PTNA Piano STEP allows participants to play pieces from variety of required repertoires, yet a certain tendency can be observed in their way of selection. Burgmüller pieces gained a largest popularity among all the repertoires in 2008, followed by pieces from Gillock, Sonatine Album, Bastien and J.S.Bach. 続き

Lifelong Learning - A Shared Goal with National Festival

Lifelong learning system in Japan is flourishing. The national festival "Manabi Pia" run by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, will be organized in Satitama next autumn, and it determined to include PTNA Piano STEP as supporting events. 続き

An Event Celebrating "300 Years Anniversary of Piano"

An event of "300 years anniversary of Piano" will be held on August 28-30th in Tokyo, in partnership with PTNA and Japan Piano Technicians Association. It aims at looking back 300 years of keyboard history through concerts, lectures, expositions of instruments, workshops with early instruments, etc. On 28th, the opening concert will be launched to commemorate the 300th anniversary of keyboard instruments. 続き

New Chairperson of PTNA is elected

Mr.Nobuyuki Idei, ex-CEO of Sony, is installed as the new chairperson of PTNA, and Mr.Yuichiro Hata, a member of the Upper House, becomes the vice chairperson. The ex-chairperson, Mr.Tsutomu Hata assumed the honorary chairperson, and 1 treasurer (Susumu Tabuchi) and 2 trustees (Yasuko Sugimoto, Mutsuko Tozawa) are newly elected. All changes in the executive committee went through the election and the general assembly of PTNA authorized members this year. 続き

Selecting Japanese Compositions for 2010 PTNA Piano Competition

Japanese Compositions for 2010 PTNA Piano Competition is on the process of selection. 32 pieces were nominated after the document screening, among 213 applications. At the 2nd stage (sound test), those pieces are examined by demonstration performances by several pianists, and 13 pieces are selected to be the finalists. The official announcement will be on March 1st, 2010. 続き

How to find a right teacher out of 6,000?

To find a right teacher online, what do we need to know in advance? PTNA Teachers' Introduction Service, launched in 1999 to help piano learners to find teachers, increases the items of information onto the basic data - visual images and testimonies. It enables customers to make survey in detail by seeing "virtual lesson rooms". 続き

Learn Variety of Teaching Styles from 10 min Demonstrations

On May 10th, PTNA demonstration session for teaching was held in Showa College of Music. Each of 26 experienced piano teachers showed 10-15 min teaching demonstration to young pianists who had been selected by open applications 続き

Theoretical and Practical Approaches to Competition Repertoire

What can be done for competition- music analysis or practical training, or both? PTNA Piano Competition is not only discovering young talents but also aims at encouraging learning process of music in depth from eary stage. 続き

MIYOSHI, YUYAMA, BASTIEN...STEP focused on piano methods

Pieces composed for piano methods are rarely played in public, but why not? PTNA Piano STEP, a continuous stage performance opportunity for pianists of all age and levels, realizes it. Three STEP stations will focus on each of the following methods - MIYOSHI, YUYAMA and BASTIEN. 続き

New Collaboration with Music Publishers Starts

PTNA launches a new online service that introduces recommendable music scores, with brief commentary on pieces and performance videos. It aims to give ideas on teaching and performance, as well as to explore new repertoires. 続き

PTNA artists enlive Marunouchi metropolitan area

"La Folle Journee au Japon - Bach is Back" will be held from May 3-5 in Tokyo, and nearly 100 satellite concert series ("Area Concerts") will start from April 28th accordingly. Those concerts will be held in the neighborhood, Marunouchi Metropolitan area*, and a number of PTNA artists will join. 続き

18 pianists appeared in Talk Concert Spring Festival

The Talk Concert Spring Festival 2009 w... 続き

Vice president published a book "The Basics of Piano Performance "

PTNA vice president, Mrs.Yasuko Nakayam... 続き

How to make advantage in PTNA Piano STEP?

A guidance booklet for PTNA Piano STEP ... 続き