Born in Akita, Japan, in 1983, Takashi Sato is recognised as one of the most outstanding Japanese pianists of his generation. He has won prizes at several competitions, including the Music Competition of Japan 2001 (1st prize), the Schubert International Piano Competition 2007 (1st prize), the Queen Elisabeth Competition 2010 (laureate), and the Città di Cantù International Piano Competition 2011 (1st prize). After graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts with top honours in 2006, he studied with Arie Vardi at Hanover University for Music and Drama until 2011, when he was awarded the Diplom-Konzertsolist. He also attended the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna under the tutelage of Roland Keller. Alongside his accomplishments as soloist, working with numerous orchestras including the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Osaka Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony, and the Belgian National Orchestra, he is equally appreciated as an adept chamber musician and has collaborated with many renowned artists, including Karl Leister, Horigome Yuzuko, Watanabe Reiko, Sato Shunske, and Kamio Mayuko. A recording of Edvard Grieg’s complete sonatas for violin and piano with Sato Shunske was awarded a Grand Prize by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan at the National Arts Festival in 2007. Since 2014, he has been giving a recital series, ‘Schubert-Zyklus’, in Tokyo, presenting the complete works for piano of Franz Schubert.