Classical pianists Natsuki Nishimoto and Asuka Sakuma, while each traversing their own paths, come together as the piano duo “piaNA.” The duo’s impact arises from their divergent performance styles that somehow synchronize as if coming from a single performer, offering audiences the true experience of two performers on one piano. Since its formation in 2010, piaNA has performed on a variety of stages, receiving acclaim in Japan and in Europe. In 2012, they released "piaNA plays Kapustin," an album focusing entirely on the four-hand piano works of Ukrainian composer Nikolai Kapustin, on the Artist Label in France. In the same year, Kapustin dedicated two pieces for piano duo to them: “Three for Two, Op. 145” and “Capriccio, Op. 146,” and these were included on the CD “1122 ~ the Four-Hand Piano Works of Kapustin,” released in July on BRAVO Records. This recording has been featured in a variety of media, such as being selected as the ‘tokusenban’ (“editor’s choice”) in the monthly magazine “Record Geijutsu.” piaNA was the only piano duo in the world to whom Kapustin dedicated pieces. They were finalists in the Duet Division of the International Edvard Grieg Piano Competition. This is their first appearance at PMF.

Natsuki Nishimoto, piano
Asuka Sakuma, piano