Tomoharu Ushida

Tomoharu Ushida (Japanese: 牛田智大) (born Fukushima, Japan, October 16, 1999 ) is a Japanese pianist.

Early life and education Ushida was born in Fukushima Prefecture. He moved to Shanghai with his family soon after he was born, due to his father's business. He came back to Japan when he enrolled in primary school in Aichi Prefecture.

Ushida studied at the Moscow Conservatory under the supervision of Yuri Slesarev and Alexander Vershinin. He released his debut album Liebesträume from Universal Classics in 2012, at the age of 12, as the youngest Japanese classical pianist.

Ushida composed the theme music of exhibition "Liechtenstein" held at the New National Art Center in Tokyo and performed in the presence of former Crown Prince (now His Majesty the Emperor) of Japan in 2012.

In 2014, Ushida performed for the first time with overseas artists, the Wiener Kammer Orchestra (conducted by Stefan Vlader). In 2015 and 2019, he performed with the Russian National Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Pletnev, and the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yatsek Kaspsik in 2018.

Ushida won the second prize in the 10th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in 2018.

Ushida participated in the 21st Leeds International Piano Competition in 2024 and reached the semi-finals. He also won the Medici.tv Audience Prize.

Awards 2011 – XII International Chopin Piano Competition in ASIA – Concert B Division – First Prize (youngest in the history of the category) 2012 – XIII International Chopin Piano Competition in ASIA – Concert C Division – First Prize (youngest in the history of the category) 2012 – XVI Hamamatsu International Piano Academy Competition – First Prize (youngest in the history of the competition) 2018 – X Hamamatsu International Piano Competition – Second Prize, Audience Award, Award from President of Warsaw, Poland 2019 – 29th Idemitsu Music Awards

Discography CDs Launch dateRecord companyNumberLiebesträume ~ Tomoharu Ushida debut March 14, 2012 Universal Music Japan UCCY-9012 / UCCY-1023 Memories August 22, 2012 Universal Music Japan UCCY-9015 / UCCY-1026 Dedication-List & Chopin Masterpieces June 19, 2013 Universal Music Japan UCCY-9018 / UCCY-1030 Träumerei July 2, 2014 Universal Music Japan UCCY-9019 / UCCY-1039 Liebesfreud June 24, 2015 Universal Music Japan UCCY-9024 / UCCY-1056 Pictures at an exhibition September 14, 2016 Universal Music Japan UCCY-1069 / Chopin: Ballade No. 1 e 24 Preludes March 20, 2019 Universal Music Japan UCCY-1096 / Chopin Recital 2022 August 31, 2022 Universal Music Japan UCCY-1115 / UCXY-1003