Masayuki Tayama is much in demand across Europe and Japan. He first came to prominence when he won First Prize in the Takahiro Sonoda International Piano Competition in Japan, followed by numerous top prizes in Europe, including the Birmingham International Piano Competition. Tayama studied at the Toho University of Music in Japan, and subsequently in London on a Fellowship from the Japanese Government, where he was awarded the Performer’s Diploma with Honours from both the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. 
 
His London debut took place in 2002 at the Southbank Centre and since then, he has been performing regularly at highly prestigious venues including Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall and St. John’s Smith Square. His Tokyo debut recital at Toppan Hall in 2005 was broadcast on Nikkei National Radio in Japan, and he was a featured pianist on BBC Radio, UK, in October 2012. More recently, he made his USA debut at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, where the recital was broadcast live on the Internet. 
 
His recent performances with orchestra, notably at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Fairfield Halls and the Last Night of the St Jude’s Proms, include all the Piano Concertos by Brahms and Rachmaninov, collaborating with conductors including Stephen Bell, Adrian Brown, Darrell Davison, John Gibbons, Levon Parikian, Brien Stait and Vladimir Válek. 
 
He has earned an enviable reputation as a Rachmaninov specialist, and is currently in the midst of a project to record Rachmaninov’s complete works for solo piano. His first recording of the two Sonatas won the accolade ‘Best Recording of the Month’ in Stereo magazine, and his second CD of the complete Rachmaninov Etudes-Tableaux and Morceaux de Fantaisie followed to critical acclaim. The third disc of the two sets of Variations has been chosen as a ‘Tokusen-ban’ (Specially Selected and Recommended) in the January 2016 issue of Record Geijutsu, Japan’s most authoritative classical music and review magazine. 
 
Tayama is much sought after as a teacher and adjudicator. From 2010 to 2017, he taught First Study pianists at Chetham’s School of Music, Britain’s largest specialist music school. Currently, he is a Professor at the Elmitt Piano Academy where he gives regular Master Classes and Lecture-Recitals, and is also a registered adjudicator with the European Piano Teachers Association. In 2018, he was appointed as a Principal Tutor for the Piano Teachers’ Course UK, Britain’s leading professional development course for piano teachers. 
 
He is embarking on a new project to offer musical experiences and holidays on England’s inland waterways. A bespoke canal boat is under construction and is due to launch in 2020. Follow the project at: www.thepianoboat.com