"A performance of noble grace and clarity combined with emotional warmth and celestial lyricism." - Elena Vorotko, Keyboard Charitable Trust

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Japanese-American pianist Ayane Nakajima is a prize winner of several international competitions including Pianale, Young Texas Artists, International Keyboard Odyssiad and YoungArts. 

 

Born and raised in New York City, Ayane began playing the piano at the age of three under the tutelage of Chaim Freiberg at the Kaufman Music Center. From six to eighteen, she studied privately with Dr. Hiromi Fukuda. Ayane is currently pursuing her Master's degree at the Royal College of Music in London with Danny Driver, where she is a Big Give Michael Whittaker Scholar. She previously attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and received her Bachelor of Music under Dr. Jon Kimura Parker at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music in Houston, Texas. 

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In recent years, Ayane has given performances across the United States and Europe at venues such as Steinway Hall in London and New York, Scandinavia House, Alice Tully Hall, Rose Studio at Lincoln Center, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and the New World Center. She also actively participates in summer festivals, most recently at the Académie Internationale d'Eté de Nice, where she studied intensively with pianist Akiko Ebi. Additionally, she was nominated as a 2019 U.S. Presidential Scholar, selected as a recipient of the 2023 Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts and a finalist in the 2024 Royal Overseas League Competition. 

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