​Biography

Mai Nakase was born in 1994 in Tsu, Mie Prefecture, Japan. She graduated from Tokyo College of Music in 2018 and completed her master's degree at Tokyo College of Music in 2020. She recently completed her Masters of Performance with Distinction at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. She is currently in the first year of the Guildhall Artist Diploma. Her studies have been supported by scholarships from Rotary International, the Alec Beecheno Bursary Award and Guildhall School Trust. She has studied under a variety of professors including Naofumi Kaneshige, Kenji Watanabe, Hideto Nishikawa, Atsuko Okada, Ronan O’Hora and Noriko Ogawa for piano solo, Mizuho Nakata for piano duo, Hisako Naito for Koto and Carole Presland and Ursula Smith for Chamber music. 

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Mai has won various competitions, including First prize at the Osaka International Music Competition. She was also chosen as “The Most Popular Artist” and was awarded 2nd prize in Piano Duo (Senior Group) in the 3rd Sviatoslav Richter International Piano Competition in 2022. She was awarded the Gold Hands at the Carles & Sofia International Piano Competition in 2023.

She performed with the Polish Krakow Chamber Orchestra when she was 9 years old. She attended PIANALE International Piano Academy & competition in 2016 and 2019, the international summer seminar at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna as well as Tokushima Bunri University in 2017, the International Music Academy Munich in 2018 and 2019 and Chetham’s International Piano Summer School in 2020. 

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She has performed at several concerts, especially she was invited to perform at the concert “Harmonie der Farben” which was held under the sponsorship of the Japanese Consulate General in Munich, Germany in 2019 and at the Embassy of Spain in the UK in 2021. She performed with Sarah Cahill, an American Pianist at the Barbican Conservatory in 2022.

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She has also been active in a wide range including appearing in Japanese TV dramas and films and performing with some dancers at the most famous theme park in Japan.