{"id":123597,"date":"2026-04-22T13:18:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T17:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=123597"},"modified":"2026-04-22T14:00:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T18:00:01","slug":"interview-pianist-hayato-sumino-answers-questions-music-improvisation-toy-pianos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/04\/22\/interview-pianist-hayato-sumino-answers-questions-music-improvisation-toy-pianos\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Pianist Hayato Sumino Answers A Few Questions About Music, Improvisation, And Toy Pianos"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_123600\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-123600\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-123600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-04-22T131750.338.jpg\" alt=\"Pianist Hayato Sumino (Photo courtesy of the artist)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-04-22T131750.338.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-04-22T131750.338-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-04-22T131750.338-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-04-22T131750.338-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-123600\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pianist Hayato Sumino (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Japanese pianist Hayato Sumino takes the stage at <strong>Roy Thomson Hall<\/strong> on <strong>May 2<\/strong> for the Canadian premiere of his multiple keyboard recital. Sumino is the first ever double winner of Germany\u2019s prominent OPUS KLASSIK prize.<\/p>\n<p>Hayato has a huge following both online and off, and has built a reputation that combines traditional classical music values with a modern sensibility. He\u2019s known for his jazz-informed improvisation, a rarity in the classical music world, as well as his virtuosity, and love for both film and video game scores.<\/p>\n<p>Along with performance, he\u2019s also a composer and arranger.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pHlqEvAwdVc?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Hayato Sumino<\/h2>\n<p>Born in Tokyo, Hayato Sumino began playing the piano at the age of three. He attended the University of Tokyo to study engineering and science, and graduated with a master\u2019s degree from the Graduate School of Information and Science Technology. Sumino also studied music information processing tech and artificial intelligence at the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics in France.<\/p>\n<p>His musical career was launched after he won the Grand Prix at the 42nd PTNA Piano Competition in Japan in 2018. The following year, he garnered third prize at the Lyon International Piano Competition. He participated in the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, where he advanced to the semifinals, and his live performance at the second round garnered more than 45K views online, a record for the competition.<\/p>\n<p>His fame has also grown with his online persona as a YouTuber under the name Canteen with more than 1.5 million followers and close to 200 million views, posting videos of his performances, including both intimate playing at home, and his polished releases.<\/p>\n<p>Recent performances include debuts at the Rheingau Musik Festival in Germany, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival in Switzerland, and the Ravinia Festival. As a soloist, Hayato is performs regularly with prominent orchestras across the globe, including the Hamburg, Polish National Radio, and NHK Symphony Orchestras, the Tokyo, Japan, Kansai, and Osaka Philharmonics, the Pacific Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Boston Pops, among others.<\/p>\n<p>He is an exclusive Sony Classical recording artist, Artist Ambassador for Apple Music Classical, Steinway Artist, and CASIO Ambassador, and a Steinway artist. His debut album with Sony Classical is will be released in fall 2026, and includes works by Bach, Debussy, Faur\u00e9, and Hayato\u2019s own arrangement of Ravel\u2019s Bolero.<\/p>\n<p>As a composer, his music has been used in multiple media, including video games. In 2024, Sumino composed the soundtrack to Firstline, a short film directed by China Sui which was released by Toho Animation Studio as part of their Gemnibus volume 1 anthology.<\/p>\n<p>His piece frostline was composed for figure skater Yuma Kagiyama\u2019s exhibition program:<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uvebFH0thek?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Ludwig-Van asked Hayato a few questions about his music and career.<\/p>\n<h2>Hayato Sumino: Q&amp;A<\/h2>\n<p><strong>LV:<\/strong> You studied engineering and information science \u2014 what made you switch your focus to piano performance?<\/p>\n<p><strong>HS:<\/strong> I would not say it felt like a complete switch. In my mind, engineering, mathematics, and music were always connected. They all involve structure, pattern, and the attempt to give shape to something invisible.<\/p>\n<p>But the decisive turning point came in 2018, when I won the PTNA Piano Competition, which is one of the largest piano competitions in Japan. In the final round, I played Rachmaninoff\u2019s Second Piano Concerto with orchestra, and I remember thinking very clearly: there is nothing happier than this.<\/p>\n<p>I genuinely loved research, and that part of me is still very much alive. But, that experience made me realize that the strongest force in me was the desire to create sound on stage. That was the moment when performance stopped being just one part of my life and became the centre of it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LV:<\/strong> How do you incorporate improvisation into classical performance? I notice in your Toronto recital that it\u2019s listed as a separate element in the program. Do you follow a set harmonic pattern, or is it looser \u2014 more like jazz improvisation? And \u2014 what kind of toy piano do you play?<\/p>\n<p><strong>HS:<\/strong> For me, improvisation is not something separate from classical music. It feels more like something that originally belonged to performance itself. In the nineteenth century, there was a practice known as preluding, where pianists would play a short improvised introduction before a written work. It created a natural sense of arrival and connection between pieces, and I really love that idea.<\/p>\n<p>That is very much the spirit in which improvisation appears in my recital. I do not follow a completely fixed harmonic pattern every time. It can function as a bridge from one work to another, and sometimes improvisatory elements appear naturally within the Gershwin as well. I may even improvise in the encore.<\/p>\n<p>The toy piano I use is a Kawai model. It is the same type I used on my YouTube channel since 2020.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LV:<\/strong> Do you see improvisation as a way of adding energy to classical music? It was, after all, the norm for centuries.<\/p>\n<p><strong>HS:<\/strong> Yes, it certainly brings energy. But for me, its value is not only that it makes things more exciting.<\/p>\n<p>Classical music today can sometimes place too much emphasis on the polished reproduction of something already complete. But originally, performance must have contained more freedom, more unpredictability, and more of a sense that the music was being born in that very moment.<\/p>\n<p>So for me, improvisation is not really about adding something new to classical music. It is more about reopening something that was there from the beginning.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LV:<\/strong> What role do you think your online presence plays? Is it something of a bridge between traditional audiences for classical music and a younger generation?<\/p>\n<p><strong>HS:<\/strong> I did not begin with the intention of becoming a bridge between classical music and younger audiences. Since my teens, I simply wanted to play the music I loved in many different ways, following ideas that felt natural to me, and to share that online.<\/p>\n<p>So I am still, in some ways, surprised by how large that online presence has become. At the same time, I now feel a real sense of responsibility because of it.<\/p>\n<p>If it has become an entry point for younger listeners or for people who might not otherwise encounter classical music, I am very happy about that. It was more that I kept sharing the kind of musical expression that felt honest to me, and as a result it gradually came to play that role.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LV:<\/strong> For your Toronto program, you\u2019ve chosen a wide range of pieces from Bach to Chopin to Gershwin and your own compositions. Are these personal favourites of yours?<\/p>\n<p><strong>HS:<\/strong> Yes, they are all works I care about very deeply. But this program is not simply a list of personal favourites. Since I will be using both a grand piano and an upright piano, what I really hope the audience will feel is a kind of universe of the keyboard.<\/p>\n<p>In the first half, I move back and forth between the two instruments so that the audience can experience the difference in colour, resonance, and space. In the second half, both pianos appear within a single work, and I hope that opens up a sense of new possibilities for what the piano can be. The first and second halves will have very different atmospheres.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/STFSyHAC8xg?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Hayato Sumino At Roy Thomson Hall<\/h2>\n<p>The program for his May 2 Toronto concert consists of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>J.S. Bach: Chromatic Fantasie &amp; Fugue in D Minor<\/li>\n<li>Hayato Sumino: Human Universe<\/li>\n<li>Hayato Sumino: Three Nocturnes<\/li>\n<li>Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Chopin: Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48<\/li>\n<li>Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Chopin: Scherzo No. 1, Op. 20<\/li>\n<li>Toy Piano \/ Improvisation<\/li>\n<li>Hayato Sumino: Big Cat Waltz<\/li>\n<li>George Gershwin: An American in Paris<\/li>\n<li>Maurice Ravel: Bol\u00e9ro<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Find tickets and show details [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/roythomsonhall.mhrth.com\/tickets\/hayato-sumino\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? Have a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/masthead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>news tip<\/u><\/a>? 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