ABOUT
KYOKA MINAMI
PIANIST
Kyoka Minami is a Japanese pianist and winner of the Grand Prix at the 48th PTNA Piano Competition Superior Grade in 2024, where she also received the Audience Award, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award, and the Steinway Award. She was also honored with the Sakai City Award of Honor in 2025.
Born in Osaka, Japan, Minami attended the Music Department of Osaka Prefectural Yuhigaoka High School before earning her bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from Kyoto City University of Arts. Having spent part of her childhood in Boston, she received her early musical education in both Japan and the United States. She later completed her Master of Music and Graduate Performance Diploma at Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
Minami was awarded Third Prize at the 2024 Lake Lewisville International Piano Competition. As a soloist, she has performed with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Conservatory Orchestra, São Paulo Youth Symphony Orchestra, Ribeirão Preto Symphony Orchestra, and Lublin Chamber Orchestra in Poland. She has collaborated with conductors including Kosuke Tsunoda, Satoshi Awatsuji, and Sachio Fujioka, and has given solo recitals in Japan, Poland, and the United States.
Her competition distinctions also include First Prize and the Audience Award in the general division of the Sakai International Piano Competition. She was also recognized as a top-five winner in the PTNA Piano Competition for pianists under the age of 22.
Minami has received several scholarships, including the Mark H. Cooley Piano Scholarship, the Churchill Scholarship, and the Aoyama Music Foundation Scholarship. She has studied with Tamaki Kai, Alice Wilkinson, Claudio Soares, Kumiko Hattori, Hibiki Tamura, and Max Levinson.
She is currently pursuing her Artist Diploma at Boston Conservatory at Berklee on a full-tuition scholarship.
