Jon Nakamatsu on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Jon Yasuhiro Nakamatsu (born 1968,
Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival website
/ref> * June 2000: Regular Jury member (preliminaries only), Second International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, Fort Worth, Texas * June 1999: Regular Jury member (all three rounds), First International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, Fort Worth, Texas * 1997–current: Full-time pianist * 1991–1997:
Jon Nakamatsu official web site
Hear Jon Nakamatsu in concert
from WGBH Boston
Van Cliburn Foundation
Harmonia Mundi
youtube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamatsu, Jon American classical pianists Male classical pianists American male pianists American classical musicians of Japanese descent Foothill College alumni Musicians from San Jose, California Pupils of Leonard Stein Stanford University alumni Living people 1968 births Stanford Graduate School of Education alumni Prize-winners of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition 20th-century American pianists People from Sunnyvale, California Classical musicians from California 21st-century classical pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists
Jon Yasuhiro Nakamatsu (born 1968, San Jose, California
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...
) is an American classical pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
who resides in San Jose.
About
He is the son of David Y. Nakamatsu, a San Jose electrical engineer, and Karen F. Maeda Nakamatsu, a city employee. He was raised in nearbySunnyvale
Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California.
Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the north ...
, California and attended Prospect High School and Stanford University before becoming a German teacher at St. Francis High School in Mountain View.
In June 1997 Nakamatsu won the Gold Medal at the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (The Cliburn) is an American piano competition by The Cliburn, first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas and hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. Initially held at Texas Christian University, the co ...
in Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
. He was the first American to win this prize since 1981. Immediately following the competition, he quit his job as a high school German teacher to pursue a career as a classical pianist. He did not attend a music conservatory or major in music while he attended college and graduate school.
During the summer of 2005, Nakamatsu toured with the San Jose Youth Symphony
The San Jose Youth Symphony (SJYS) is a non-profit youth orchestra located in San Jose, California.
SJYS was founded in 1951. It was originally part of the San Jose Symphony as the San Jose Symphony Youth Orchestra (SJSYO). However, in 2002, when ...
in Spain, performing the Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...
Piano Concerto No. 2, and in June 2007, he toured with the Peninsula Youth Orchestra to Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, and Teplice
Teplice () (until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; german: Teplitz-Schönau or ''Teplitz'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is the second largest Czech spa town, after Karlovy Vary. The his ...
playing the same piece. During the summer of 2008, he also toured with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra to China, playing Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."
Education
* Studied piano privately with Marina Derryberry since age 6 (1974). * Graduated from Prospect High School, Saratoga, California, 1986 * A.A. Associate of Arts degree,Foothill College
Foothill College is a public community college in Los Altos Hills, California. It is part of the Foothill–De Anza Community College District. It was founded on January 15, 1957, and offers 79 Associate degree programs, 1 Bachelor's degree pr ...
(community college), Los Altos Hills, California, 2000 (officially awarded long after degree requirements met)
* B.A. Bachelor of Arts degree in German Studies, Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, California, 1991
* M.A. Master of Arts degree in Education, Stanford Graduate School of Education
The Stanford Graduate School of Education (also known as Stanford GSE, or GSE) is one of the seven schools of Stanford University, and is one of the top education schools in the United States. It was founded in 1891 and offers master's and doc ...
, California, 1992
Career
* May–June 2007: Regular Jury member, Fifth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, Fort Worth, Texas * 2006-current: Co-Artistic Director of Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (with Jon Manasse)/ref> * June 2000: Regular Jury member (preliminaries only), Second International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, Fort Worth, Texas * June 1999: Regular Jury member (all three rounds), First International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, Fort Worth, Texas * 1997–current: Full-time pianist * 1991–1997:
German language
German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...
teacher at Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California
Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376.
Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is the ...
and part-time pianist.
Debuts
Trivia
* Named Debut Artist of the Year in 1998 byNational Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
’s ''Performance Today''
* Was featured in ''Reader's Digest
''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
'' in June 1998
* Has been profiled on ''CBS Sunday Morning
''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (normally shortened to ''Sunday Morning'' on the program itself since 2009) is an American news magazine television program that has aired on CBS since January 28, 1979. Created by Robert Northshield and original host ...
''
Discography
Nakamatsu is featured in the documentary movie ''"Playing with Fire": The Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition'', which aired onPBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
television and is available on DVD.
Awards
References
External links
Jon Nakamatsu official web site
Hear Jon Nakamatsu in concert
from WGBH Boston
Van Cliburn Foundation
Harmonia Mundi
youtube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamatsu, Jon American classical pianists Male classical pianists American male pianists American classical musicians of Japanese descent Foothill College alumni Musicians from San Jose, California Pupils of Leonard Stein Stanford University alumni Living people 1968 births Stanford Graduate School of Education alumni Prize-winners of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition 20th-century American pianists People from Sunnyvale, California Classical musicians from California 21st-century classical pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists