Kawai Pianos have built a reputation for producing high quality pianos, not just for practise at home, but also for world class artists on the concert platform. This relationship between manufacturer and artist has always been very important, as it pushes a manufacturer like Kawai to keep refining their instruments and improving them.
Pianist Julian Saphir has been collaborating with Kawai since 2005 where he took on the twin roles of performer and Artistic Director of his Master Musicians Concert Series at Harewood House, Leeds, UK. The series featured the Kawai Shigeru SK-EX concert grand piano, at the time the only one if its kind in the UK. The success of Julian’s experience with the Shigeru piano led to Julian selecting it for further concerts, where he performed Rachmaninoff’s second and third concertos and Prokofiev’s third concerto on the same instrument
Julian started playing the piano at the age of four and soon went on to study at the Royal College of Music, with many critically acclaimed concerts following from his graduation. After a long absence from the concert platform he is firmly re-establishing himself as one of Britain’s finest pianists, displaying profound musicianship, virtuosity and the ability to entertain as both soloist and chamber musician.