BIOGRAPHY
YouTube
Io Yamada is one of the most promising talents of the new generation.
His interpretations are full of vitality, expressiveness and colour.
Listening to him is truly a joy for the soul.−Ricardo Gallen
(Professor HfM Franz Liszt Weimar)
Io Yamada
Japanese classical guitarist Io Yamada is based in Germany and performs regularly throughout Europe and Japan. His playing has earned particular international recognition for its vitality, expressive depth, and rich palette of tone colors. His international career has been shaped by major successes at leading guitar competitions alongside an active concert, recording, and educational career.
Among his principal achievements are First Prize at the 55th Michele Pittaluga International Guitar Competition (Italy, 2023), one of the world’s leading guitar competitions and a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC); First Prize and the Audience Prize at the 48th Dr. Luis Sigall International Music Competition (Chile, 2024), another WFIMC member competition; and First Prize together with the Alhambra Award for the best performance of the commissioned contemporary Spanish work at the XVII Alhambra International Guitar Competition (Spain, 2026). He has received more than twenty prizes in national and international competitions.
In Japan, he was awarded the Aoyama Music Award (Aoyama Prize) in 2025, presented annually by the Aoyama Music Foundation to outstanding artists selected from the previous season’s performances at Kyoto’s Aoyama Music Memorial Hall. He is also a scholarship recipient of the Rohm Music Foundation, whose scholarship program is among Japan’s most prestigious and generously funded for young musicians.
Yamada has performed extensively in Japan and internationally, including in Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Hungary. He has appeared at Kyoto Concert Hall’s Kitayama Matinee Series, Kyoto Music Caravan, Hakuju Guitar Festa, the Hakuju Reclining Concert Series, the Nürtingen International Guitar Festival, and Forum Gitarre Wien, as well as on NHK FM’s Recital Passio and NHK BS’s 8K Premium Concert.
His debut album, 1.0 (one) (Sylphide Records, 2018), was selected as a Special Choice Disc by Record Geijutsu magazine. His second album, IO YAMADA (Contrastes Records, 2024), was followed by a third recording for Naxos, scheduled for release in 2027.
He studied at Tokyo College of Music, the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar, where he completed both his Master’s degree and the Konzertexamen under Prof. Ricardo Gallén and Prof. Thomas Müller-Pering.
Awards
2026. Jun.
17th Alhambra International Guitar Competition
1st Prize, Prize for best interpretation of the obligatory piece
2026. Mar.
2024. Oct.
XLVIII Concurso Internacional de Ejecución Musical “Dr. Luis Sigall” (Chile)
1. Prize, Public Prize
2023. Sep.
55th Concorso di Chitarra Classica "Michele Pittaluga" (Italy)
1. Prize
2023. May.
31st Koblenz International Guitar Competition (Germany)
3. Prize
2022. Oct.
Luxemburg International Guitar Competition (Luxemburg)
2. Prize
2022. Sep.
Premio Claudio De Angelis (Perugia, Italy)
1. Prize
2022. Aug.
Taiwan International Guitar Competition (Taiwan)
2. Prize
2022. Jul.
Iserlohn International Guitar Competition(Iserlohn, Germany)
2. Prize
2022. Jul.
Mottola International Guitar Competition (Mottola, Italy)
2. Prize
2022. Apr.
Antony International Guitar Competition (Antony, France)
2. Prize, Prize for best interpretation of the obligatory piece.
2021. Oct.
2. Stuttgart International International Guitar Competition (Stuttgart, Germany)
2. Prize
2021. Nov.
XXXVI. Andres Segovia International Guitar Competition (La Herradura, Spain)
3. Prize, Prize for best interpretation of the obligatory piece.
2021. Jul.
Wien International Guitar Competition "Forum Gitarre Wien" (Wien, Österreich)
2. Prize (top of the list)
2021. Jul.
Nürtingen International Guitar Competition (Nürtingen, Germany)
1. Prize, Public Prize, Junior Jury Prize
2018. Jul.
Liechtenstein International Guitar Competition (Liechtenstein)
3. Prize
2017.
7th J.S.Bach International Guitar Competition (Tokyo, Japa)
1. Prize
2017. May.
International Competition for Early Music (YAMANASHI, Japan)
3. Prize (top of the list), Romantic guitar duo with Kyota Imoto
2015.
33rd Spanish Guitar Music Competition (Tokyo, Japan)
1. Prize
2015.
7th East End International Guitar Competition (Tokyo, Japan)
1. Prize
2013.
21st San-in national Guitar Competition (Shimane, Japan)
1. Prize
2011.
38th Japan national Guitar Competition (Osaka, Japan)
1. Prize
2008.
16th Nagoya national Guitar Competition (Nagoya, Japan)
1. Prize
Musical Education
2023 -
Sturdied the Guitar under Professor Ricardo Gallen and Thomas Müller-Pering at “Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar”
Konzertexamen
2020 - 2023
Sturdied the Guitar under Professor Ricardo Gallen at “Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar”
Master
2018 - 2020
Sturdied the Guitar under Professor Alvaro Pierri at “Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien”
1. Diplom
2014 - 2018
Sturdied the Guitar under Professor Gentaro Takada in Tokyo.
Bachelor of Music
2013 - 2017
Sturdied the Guitar under Professor Kiyoshi Shomura and Tsuneo Ema at the Tokyo College of Music in Tokyo.
2010 - 2013
Sturdied the Guitar under Professor Keigo Fujii at Kyoto Horikawa Music high school.
2004 - 2013
Studied Violoncello under Mrs. Aki Iga, in Osaka
1997 - 2010
Sturdied with Naoki Yamada (his father)