Takeo Sato
Takeo Sato began his international career as a concert guitarist at the age of twelve and is regarded as one of the notable artists of his generation. In 1996, at the age of fourteen, he won first prize at the International Guitar Contest in Bath. Even before beginning formal studies, he received several distinctions, including three first prizes at the national competition Jugend musiziert and awards at the Anna Amalia Guitar Competition in Weimar and the International Guitar Competition in Tokyo. In 2009 he won first prize at the International Guitar Competition Johann Sebastian Bach in Reisbach. In 2000 he received the Special Prize of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of Saarland.
Education
He received his first guitar lessons at the age of nine from his father, the Japanese luthier Kazuo Sato. He later studied privately and entered the preparatory program at the Saarland University of Music and Performing Arts with Prof. Ansgar Krause. In 2001 he joined the class of Prof. Franz Halász at the University of Music in Augsburg, completing his studies with distinction. He continued with a master class program at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague under Prof. Zoran Dukic. Masterclasses with Toshio Hosokawa, David Russell, Alvaro Pierri, Carlo Marchione, Hubert Käppel, Ricardo Gallén, Stefano Grondona and Eduardo Egüez further shaped his artistic development.
Musical Career
His work includes radio and television productions, premieres of contemporary music and a range of chamber projects. He has recorded and toured with the Croatian Guitar Quartet and the Alegrías Guitar Trio, and has appeared in concert series with artists such as Daniel Behle, Günther Groissböck, Stefanie Irányi, Iris Lichtinger, Judith Müller, Colin Balzer, Dominik Wilgenbus, Dimitri Lavrentiev and Tristan Angenendt. In 2016 he collaborated with Catherine Habasque and countertenor Thomas Lichtenecker at the Elisabethenkirche in Basel, and in 2018 he contributed to a Sony recording in Zurich with Daniel Behle and the Oliver Schnyder Trio.
As a soloist he performs with ensembles such as the Augsburg Philharmonic, the Chamber Opera Munich and the Chamber Orchestra Die Zarge, working with conductors including Héja Domonkos, Nabil Shehata, Christian Reif, Thomas Guggeis, Bernhard Tluck and Katsiaryna Ihnatsyeva-Cadek. From 2005 to 2012 he performed for the association Yehudi Menuhin – Live Music Now, later serving as deputy chairman and artistic director of its Augsburg branch. Together with Dimitri Lavrentiev he founded the International Guitar Festival Augsburg.
Publications
In 2011 he released his debut solo album recital. In 2012 he published an arrangement of Beethoven’s Sonata WoO 33 / 4 & 5 with Chanterelle Verlag, created in cooperation with the Beethoven House in Bonn and the Berlin State Library. In 2018 he participated in a Sony CD production recorded in Zurich.
Teaching
In 2005 he began teaching as assistant to Prof. Franz Halász at one of Europe’s active guitar classes. Since 2008 he has led his own class at the Leopold Mozart Centre of the University of Augsburg. Graduates from his studio continue their studies with internationally renowned professors. Since 2014 he has taught at the Bavarian music academies through the Max Weber Program. In 2016 he was appointed Professor of Guitar at the Vorarlberg State Conservatory in Feldkirch. He also gives masterclasses and serves on juries at competitions in Germany, Korea and Thailand.
Other
Takeo Sato performs on a guitar crafted by his father Kazuo Sato and is supported by Hannabach Strings, Hercules Stands, Guitarlift and Hughes & Kettner.
