Biography

Hailed by critics as "an extraordinary pianist who promises to become a legend in this new century", twenty-three-year-old pianist Naomi Kudo is fast establishing a rising reputation for her fresh and versatile artistry as a soloist and chamber musician.

Winner of the prestigious 2008 Gilmore Young Artist Award, Naomi made her orchestral debut at age sixteen performing Tchaikovsky's First Concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and, later that same year, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Orchestra Hall playing Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain.

Naomi was named the recipient of the Chopin Prize, and was a consecutive winner of two Gina Bachauer International Piano Competitions at the Juilliard School. Naomi has also received international recognition in several competitions: as the only American finalist at the Fifteenth International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, and as a prizewinner in the Dublin, Hilton Head, and U.S. National Chopin Piano Competitions. As an avid chamber musician, she has won the silver medal at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

Naomi received the 2003 I.M.A. Music Award of Japan and a Level I Award at the 2005 National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts' Arts Recognition and Talent Search. She was named a prestigious 2004 Davidson Fellow Laureate by the Davidson Institute of Talent Development and is a scholarship recipient of the Rohm Music Foundation in Japan.

Naomi's international career began at age fourteen with a recital debut at the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki-Zdroj, Poland. Since then, highlights have included performances at the "New Names of the 21st Century" International Music Festival in Russia; the Nagoya International Youth Music Festival in Japan; Chopin's birth house "Zelazowa Wola", Lazienki Park, and the Royal Castle in Poland; the Stradivarius Museum in Cremona; the Salle Cortot in Paris; the Musikverein in Vienna; the Aspen Music Festival; the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago; the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Weill Recital Hall in New York.

Naomi's appearances with orchestra include the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Reno Philharmonic, and the Ars Viva, Montgomery, Fort Collins, Southwest Florida, Northbrook, Everett, Oak Park, Southwest Michigan, and Fukui (in Japan) orchestras. Naomi was recently invited to participate in the Emanuel Ax Professional Training Workshop at Carnegie Hall and also made numerous appearances as a guest artist at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival.

Born in Washington D.C. to Japanese-Korean parents, Naomi began studying piano at the age of four with Emilio del Rosario at the Music Institute of Chicago. Upon completing her undergraduate studies with Yoheved Kaplinsky at the Juilliard School, she was named recipient of the Arthur Rubinstein Prize. She is continuing further studies with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Joseph Kalichstein at the Juilliard School, and with Kum-Sing Lee of the Vancouver Music Academy.