120 Music Competition, International Edvard Grieg Competition in Norway, International Paderewski Piano Competition, ARD International Music Competition, Honens International Piano Competition, and the Scottish International Piano Competition. Noriko was appointed as the Chairperson of the Jury for Japan’s prestigious 10th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in 2018 and was also elected to the board of the World Federation of International Music Competitions this same year. Noriko is passionate about charity work, particularly after the earthquake and tsunami which devastated Japan in early 2011. Since the earthquake she has raised over £40,000 for the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Fund and is keen to keep fundraising. Noriko also founded Jamie’s Concerts, a series for autistic children and parents, and is a Cultural Ambassador for the National Autistic Society. Ronan O’Hora (UK) The British pianist Ronan O’Hora has performed throughout the world, playing with the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, the BBC Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and English Chamber orchestras, the Academy of St Martin-in-theFields, Hallé Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Zurich Tonhalle, and others. “His sound is lustrous; his playing is lyrical and full of feeling; he thinks not only of the passing notes but of the overall form. Moreover, O’Hora is blessed with meticulous taste - there was not a vulgar, swooning or overstated passage in the program.” (The Washington Post). O’Hora has performed in every major country in Europe as well as in the USA, Canada, Australasia and South Africa working with leading conductors such as Kees Bakels, Matthias Bamert, Hans Vonk, James Judd, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Bramwell Tovey, Hans Vonk, Edo de Waart, Takuo Yuasa and Lothar Zagrosek as well as appearing at many notable music festivals like Salzburg, Gstaad, Ravinia, Montpellier, Bath, Harrogate and Brno. Born in Manchester, UK, in 1964, Ronan O’Hora studied there at the Royal Northern College of Music with Professor Ryszard Bakst. He has won many important awards. Broadcasts on radio and television world-wide have included a televised recital for the Chopin Society in Warsaw, a televised performance of Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto with the Netherlands Radio Symphony, two programs of chamber music by Mozart for BBC TV, as well as over eighty concerts on BBC Radio 3. Ronan O’Hora has made highly regarded recordings on the Tring International, Virgin Classics, Dinemic and Fone labels in which he has covered concerti by Mozart, Grieg and Tchaikovsky in addition to solo piano repertoire by Schubert, Brahms, Debussy, Schumann, Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Satie plus chamber music by Fauré, Britten, Debussy, Dvořák and Mozart in a discography which extends to over thirty CDs. Reviewed as its Editor’s Choice, The Gramophone Magazine wrote “The Grieg Piano Concerto [with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under James Judd] demands imagination and great Jury Members
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