With her superlative technique, sensitivity of touch, and profound understanding of the music she plays, Yu Kosuge continues to develop a distinguished international career as a concert pianist. Yu has been giving recitals and performing with orchestras since early childhood; at the age of nine she made her debut with the Tokyo New City Orchestra. In 1993 she moved to Europe to continue her studies in Hannover and Salzburg and received great support and inspiration from András Schiff. 

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Yu Kosuge has appeared at leading venues in Berlin, Hamburg, Köln, Munich, Vienna, Salzburg, London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Zurich, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tokyo, Washington and New York. She has performed at festivals across Europe including Salzburger Festspiele, Rheingau, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Passau, Braunschweig, Mozartwoche Salzburg, Holland Music Festival, Piano Festival Lille, La Roque d'Anthéron Piano Festival and La Folle Journée de Nantes. She also enjoys chamber music and has performed with members of the Berlin Philharmonic. 

 

Yu Kosuge regularly performs with all the major Japanese orchestras, and with many leading European orchestras including the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, NDR Radiophilharmonie, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Camerata Salzburg, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, St Petersburg Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with conductors including Seiji Ozawa, Jun Märkl, Philippe Herreweghe, Gerd Albrecht, Lawrence Foster, Sakari Oramo, Christian Arming, Yutaka Sado, Mark Wigglesworth, Kazuki Yamada, Osmo Vänskä, Vasili Petrenko and Dennis Russell Davies. 

 

In September 2009 Sony released Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No 1 with the Mito Chamber Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa with a selection from Songs Without Words. Yu Kosuge's other recordings on Sony include Liszt's 12 Études d´exécution transcendante, Chopin's Préludes and Nocturne, and Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos 20 and 22. In 2015 Yu Kosuge completed recording all 32 Beethoven Sonatas, which were released as a box set in the autumn of 2016. In November 2018 Orchid Classics released ‘Water’, the first CD in her ‘Four Elements’ cycle. The second volume, ‘Fire’, was released in 2019 and the third volume was released in March 2021. The 4th volume, “Earth’ was released in January 2022. In May 2022 Sony released her CD that includes Dai Fujikura’s Impulse Piano Concerto No. 3 and Ravel‘s Piano Concerto with BBC Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth. In March 2017 Yu Kosuge won the Suntory Music Award, presented to individuals or organizations who have made an outstanding contribution to the development of Western music in Japan.