Sanae Nakajima

Biography

Sanae Nakajima was born in Japan and spent much of her childhood in New York and London, where she absorbed the best of western artistic culture. She studied piano with Fanny Waterman in Leeds and Marion Harewood in London. She won numerous prizes as a student at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, studying piano with Paul Berkowitz and chamber music with David Takeno and Edith Vogel. She was a regular participant at the International Musicians’ Seminar at Prussia Cove, studying in the classes of András Schiff and György Kurtág. Following her graduation with a Distinction, she worked closely with Joan Havill, who left a lasting impact on her as a performer and teacher.

Sanae went on to have a successful career on the concert platform, giving solo and chamber concerts throughout the UK and beyond. She was in regular partnerships with members of the Philharmonia, BBC Symphony and London Mozart Players. She established a piano trio with members of the Toronto Symphony while living in Canada.

Sanae was a faculty member of Wells Cathedral School Specialist Music School for 7 years. She joined the Junior Department of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 1993 and continues to teach there. She was the first full-time Head of Keyboard at the Dragon School, Oxford where she lead a unique and thriving piano department consisting of 350 piano pupils and 10 piano teachers. More recently she was the Head of Keyboard at Gresham’s School, Norfolk, playing a key part in the establishment of the new state-of-the-art Music Department buildings and installation of multiple Steinway pianos.

Sanae currently lives in Cambridge, where she teaches at Kings College School and at the Stephen Perse Foundation. She also has a thriving private teaching practice, where she takes on pianists from very young talented pupils to university students. Sanae organises intensive piano courses and masterclasses to give her students the full benefit of her pedagogical and musical approach. Her pupils have won places at major music conservatoires, including the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Guildhall and Birmingham Conservatoire. Younger students have won full music scholarships to Eton, Winchester, Harrow, Radley, the Perse and the Leys, as well as winning prizes at competitive music festivals.

Sanae is an expert at teaching gifted young students. She enjoys working on building repertoire and consolidating technique, as well as bringing out the originality and personality of each of her students to shine on the concert platform.

Sanae is a mother of two teenage daughters, one a ballet dancer and the other a cellist, and is married to a theoretical physicist. Her fascination with her Japanese heritage lead her to take up studying as a mature student, and she holds a degree in Oriental Studies from Oxford University.