Pianist, Shunsuke Kurakata, has had a musical life equally divided between 3 continents: Asia, Europe and North America.
Born in Japan, mr Kurakata studied piano at the prestigiousTokyo University of the Arts. Upon graduation he was selected to enter the elite class of Hermann Reuter at Munich Musikhochschule and established his young career in Germany before subsequently following professor Reuter to San Francisco. There he completed post graduate his studies and established his career in America as a concert pianist and chamber musician.
Appearing as soloist with several of the San Francisco ensembles and orchestras he has also performed regularly at Chamber Music/LA Festival and the Anchorage Music Festival.
In Japan Kurakata has appeared in solo recitals and with NHK Radio in the greater Tokyo region.
Though specializing in standard repertoire of the German-Austrian tradition, Shunsuke Kurakata has also maintained an interest in contemporary music and given several premiere performances including the local premiere of Toru Takemitsu's Piano Concerto "Riverrun" with the Berkeley Symphony. In 1984 he founded of the Modern Japanese Compositions Series of San Francisco, where during his 10 years as director, he presented numerous premieres of Japanese Compositions in partnership with the San Francisco Asian Arts Museum.
Finally, Mr Kurakata has earned an enviable reputation as a pedagog and is a much sought after professor of piano and currently maintains a full time private studio parallel to his concert activities.