Sara Watanabe

Japan

City of residence: Nishinomiya

Age: 21

“The violin is my greatest confidant. It is always there for me, supporting me through difficult times and sharing my happiest moments.”

HOME - CONCOURS 2026

Sara Watanabe was born in Hyōgo and began playing the violin at the age of 3. “My mother asked me: which instrument would you like to play–the piano or the violin ? I immediately answered, both!” She studies with Machie Oguri and Koichiro Harada at the Tokyo College of Music as a special scholarship student. In 2019, she also took part in the Mozarteum International Summer Academy where she studied with Zakhar Bron, and is currently a Fellow of the 8^th Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy.

Sara has won several prizes, including First Prize and four special prizes at the Music Competition of Japan (2022), as well as a prize at the Ishikawa Music Academy Award (2022). She was also a semifinalist of the Singapore International Violin Competition (2022) and, more recently, of the Sibelius International Violin Competition (2025).

Sara has performed with orchestras such as the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra, the Hamano JACK Orchestra, made up primarily of NHK Symphony Orchestra members alongside whom she performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, and the Hyōgo Performing Arts Center Orchestra. She describes her concert with the latter ensemble as her most memorable performance. “I performed a program filled with virtuoso pieces in front of an audience of 2,000 people. It was truly an unforgettable experience!” Her performance during the Concours 2026 will mark her debut in North America.

Sara plays on a 1690 Carlo Giuseppe Testore violin, kindly loaned by the Nippon Violin Society.