Yo Kitamura, a student in Prof. Jens Peter Maintz’s class, has won first prize in the cello category at the International George Enescu Competition, as well as the prize for the best interpretation of the set piece. This means that three students from Prof. Jens Peter Maintz’s class have now won first prize in the last four editions of the competition (Marcel Kits in 2018, Benjamin Kruithof in 2022).

Yo Kitamura was born in Japan in 2004. In 2023, he won first prize and the special prize at the 29th International Johannes Brahms Competition, as well as first prize and five special prizes at the 92nd Japan Music Competition, the most prestigious competition in Japan. In 2022, he won second prize at the International Khachaturian Competition and, in 2017, was unanimously awarded first prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians.

He studied with Prof. Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at Toho Gakuen College of Music and is currently a student of Prof. Jens-Peter Maintz at the Berlin University of the Arts. He has taken part in masterclasses with Wolfgang Boettcher, David Geringas, Steven Isserlis, Philippe Muller, Mischa Maisky, Mario Brunello and Kangho Lee. In 2018 and 2022, he attended masterclasses at the Kronberg Academy with Jens-Peter Maintz, and in 2019 at the Cello Academy Rutesheim with Claudio Borques.

He made his orchestral debut at the age of 9 and his recital debut at the age of 10. He made his debut as a soloist at Suntory Hall at the age of 11, performing Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major. He has performed with numerous professional orchestras and collaborated with conductors including Kenichiro Kobayashi, Ken Takaseki, Naoto Otomo, Sachio Fujioka, Kazuki Yamada, Andrei Feher, Alfredo Sorichetti and many others.

In 2020, he received rave reviews when he stood in for Julian Steckel in a concert conducted by Michiyoshi Inoue with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. He is a scholarship holder of the 52nd Ezoe Memorial Recruit Foundation and the ROHM Music Foundation.

He plays a 1668 ‘Casini’ cello, on loan from Ueno Fine Chemicals Industry, Ltd.