Sumino Hayato Returns to Chopin: "Performing and Composing... Dreams of Becoming a 21st-Century Musician"

Solo recital at Lotte Concert Hall on October 29
Performing Chopin's original works and his own compositions back to back

"Until the 19th century, it was natural for musicians to perform and compose. Chopin and Liszt both performed and composed. I want to bring back that kind of musician in a way that suits the 21st century."

Hayato Sumino, who graduated from the University of Tokyo's prestigious Faculty of Engineering but has pursued a career as a pianist, made the remarks in a written interview, saying that he hopes to establish himself not only as a performer but also as a composer. After graduating from the University of Tokyo's engineering program, Sumino chose a life as a performer rather than as an engineer when he won the piano competition organized by the Piano Teachers' National Association of Japan (PTNA) in 2018, while in the first year of his master's program. Piano had been familiar to him since childhood, influenced by his mother, who was a piano teacher. He grew up treating the piano like a toy from the age of 3. In 2021, he drew global attention by reaching the third round of the prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition.

Sumino, the "engineering student who plays the piano beautifully," will give a solo recital at Lotte Concert Hall on October 29. He held his first solo recital in Korea in 2022 at Yonsei University's Centennial Hall. It sold out. Since the following year, he has given a recital every year, alternating between Lotte Concert Hall and the Concert Hall at Seoul Arts Center, building a special connection with Korea.

Pianist Sumino Hayato. Master Media

"Chopin is the central axis of my musical life"... Performing original works inspired by "Black Keys" and "Aeolian Harp"

Unlike competitors in other contests, entrants in the Chopin Competition must perform only works by Chopin. Since they have to immerse themselves in Chopin throughout their preparation, quite a few performers find themselves tired of his music after the competition and do not perform it for some time.

However, at his first solo recital in Korea in 2022, Sumino devoted the entire first half to Chopin's music. He did not perform Chopin at his Korean recitals over the next three years, but this year, after a four-year break, he is returning to Chopin. Every piece on this recital's program is connected to Chopin, directly or indirectly, except for the final piece, Ravel's La Valse.

Sumino's title for this performance, which seems to take him away from Chopin for a while before bringing him back, is "Chopin Orbit." He explained, "Chopin's music has long been the central axis of my musical life, sometimes drawing closer and sometimes moving a little farther away. I wanted the title to convey the idea of placing Chopin at the center of gravity, with the various musical responses and branches that emerged from him each tracing their own orbit."

There is one piece that Sumino has performed every year since his first visit to Korea in 2022 without missing a year: his original work "New Birth." He composed it under the inspiration of Chopin's Etude No. 1 (Op. 10, No. 1). This year, too, he will perform "New Birth."

In addition to "New Birth," he will perform several other original works that grew out of Chopin's music. They include "White Keys," inspired by Chopin's Etude No. 5, "Black Keys" (Op. 10, No. 5), and "Lydian Harp," derived from Etude No. 13, "Aeolian Harp" (Op. 25, No. 1). He will also perform "Raindrop Postlude," a reinterpretation of Chopin's "Raindrop Prelude." In particular, he has placed "Aeolian Harp" and "Lydian Harp," as well as "Black Keys" and "White Keys," consecutively, allowing listeners to compare Chopin's original works with his own compositions right away.

The album Sumino released on Sony Classical this January was also titled "Chopin Orbit." He said, "I made this album because I wanted to confront Chopin's music directly." He added, "Chopin's distinctive musical language and aesthetic sensibility naturally seeped into me, and at some point I realized that they were showing up in the music I write, too."

"What mattered most to me was carrying on Chopin's aesthetic while naturally blending in my own modern sensibility and creativity," Sumino emphasized. "I wanted listeners to feel that Chopin's music does not remain a work of the past, but is alive and breathing like music newly born in this very moment."

Pianist Hayato Sumino. Mastermedia (c)Johanna Berghorn

"I want to understand Korean culture more deeply...Deeply inspired by Gyeongbokgung's gardens and colors"

In a previous interview, Sumino said that he also draws inspiration from musicians' autobiographies. "They stimulate my curiosity and inspire me greatly because I can glimpse the thoughts of other musicians and learn from them," he said. He also described Music Makes Me Free, the autobiography of Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died in 2024, as "a book that continues to inspire me no matter how many times I read it."

More recently, he said he had enjoyed reading a book by British musician and producer Brian Eno. He noted in particular that he was struck by the concept of "Axis Thinking" that Eno put forward. Sumino explained that it is "a way of looking at things as continuous and multidimensional, rather than as a choice between two alternatives."

"Just as there are different shades of gray between white and black, most things in reality cannot be divided into just two choices. Take music, for example: composition and improvisation may seem entirely separate, but I think countless different forms exist continuously between them. Also, instead of relying on just one axis, if we combine several axes or deliberately consider the opposite of a choice we usually take for granted, possibilities that we had not previously recognized as options begin to come into view. I think that is how new ideas are born."

"I was happy as I read it because it seemed to put into clear words things I had been doing vaguely myself," he said. "I was also surprised that Eno had already been thinking deeply in the mid-1990s about 'Generative Music,' a subject connected to what we now call artificial intelligence (AI) music."

Sumino said he plans to devote more of his time to composing. "I've started taking on works for larger forces little by little, such as pieces for piano and orchestra," he said. "I want to spend more time composing in the future."

He also expressed a desire to understand more deeply the culture and language of Korea, where he has built a special connection by giving solo recitals every year. "Korea is a precious place to me," he said. "I feel that Korean audiences are very passionate and value the connection they experience through music. It makes me very happy that they find something in my music every time."

He also hinted that he might compose a piece inspired by Gyeongbokgung Palace in the future. "I visited Gyeongbokgung a few months ago and was deeply moved by the beauty of its gardens and its sense of color. It has not yet led to a specific work, but it certainly gave me inspiration."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.