●Nathan Shiga: August 25, 2017

Here’s another episode featuring Saitama: an 18-year-old   youngster from Saitama City winning a major international piano competition in Vevey, Switzerland.

Mao Fujita from Saitama City is a freshman in Tokyo College of Music and already an accomplished pianist performing professionally. He is the third Japanese to win the competition.

The Clara Haskil International Piano Competition is one of the gateways to success for rising pianists created in Vevey, Switzerland, in memory of a Romanian pianist Clara Haskil who performed brilliantly in the first half the 20th century.

In the showdown with his rival finalist on August 25, Mao Fujita played two pieces including a Mozart concerto and snatched the first place with an impressive performance.

Fujita told the press after the awarding ceremony:

“This is my first experience to challenge grown-ups’ competition and so I feel that much happier.

“I tried to concentrate on producing sounds refined and beautiful. I’ll have my mind set to do my utmost, worthy of this award.”

As mentioned earlier, the competition started in memory of Clara Haskil in 1963 in the beautiful town of Vevey by the shore of Lake Leman where Haskil had lived 18 years of her life from 1942.

The competition is held every other year. Various prizes are offered but the Grand Prix is meant for only one winner. Past winners include Christoph Eschenbach, Richard Goode, Hisako Kawamura, etc.

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