Issey Kurihara

Violinist

PROFILE

After graduating at the top of his class from Tokyo University of the Arts, Issey Kurihara pursued graduate studies at Toho Gakuen School of Music and is currently enrolled in its Soloist Diploma Course. He has studied with Takashi Shimizu and Boris Kuschnir.
He won First Prize at the Japan Performers Competition, where he also received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award and the Mainichi Newspapers Award. At the 93rd Music Competition of Japan, he won First Prize, along with the Leucadia Prize, Sumi Prize, and INPEX Prize.
He has also won top prizes at numerous international competitions, including the Rodolfo Lipizer Prize International Violin Competition and the Tadeusz Wroński International Solo Violin Competition.
He performs on a 1716 Antonio Stradivari violin on loan from the ITOH Foundation.