| Monday 09 March 2026 | 18:30 |
| Hiroaki Takenouchi | Piano |
Following its acclaimed debut in 2024, the prestigious Edinburgh International Royal Mile Piano Series returns with a complete cycle of Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas, performed across the 2025–26 season. Showcasing exceptional talent from leading UK and international pianists, each recital offers a unique perspective on some of the most profound and beloved works in the piano repertoire.
Set against the magnificent backdrop of St Giles’ Cathedral — illuminated by candlelight and enhanced by a newly installed Steinway grand piano — these concerts promise an unforgettable musical experience at the heart of Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile.
About Hiroaki Takenouchi
Heralded by The Times as “just the sort of champion the newest of new music needs”, while being praised as “impeccable in his pianism and unfailing in his idiomatic grasp” by Gramophone, Takenouchi’s curiosity and a natural penchant for integrity makes his playing and vast repertoire unique amongst his generation of pianists. His love for the music of classical masters – particularly Haydn, Beethoven and Chopin – sits side by side with his passion for the music of Medtner, lesser-known British composers such as Sterndale Bennett and Parry, and the contemporary repertoire.As a soloist, Takenouchi has appeared on many concert platforms including Wigmore Hall, Tokyo Opera City and the South Bank Centre. He has also performed at festivals in Bath, Cheltenham and Salzburg and given recitals in the UK, Japan, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy and Canada. His more unusual projects have included a recital for the Rarities of Piano Repertoire Festival in Husum (Germany), a BBC Four documentary The Prince and the Composer on the life and music of Parry alongside the then Prince of Wales, and BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week, for which Hiroaki has recorded solo piano works by William Sterndale Bennett and Alexander Campbell Mackenzie
