Masaya Kamei, born in Aichi, Japan, in 2001, gained international recognition in 2022 when he won the First Prize, Journalists Award, and Audience Award at the Long-Thibaud International Competition in France. In 2025, he received Fifth Prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition, one of the world’s three major music competitions.
In 2023, he made his debut with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, performing Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1. He also gave his debut recital at the Festival de la Roque d’Anthéron and the Vilnius Piano Festival. Additionally, he toured Japan with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV, where he played Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in 11 concerts. During this time, he also performed with some of the most prestigious orchestras, including the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra.
Invited to the Festival de la Grange de Meslay and Lille Piano Festival during the summer of 2024, Masaya Kamei returned to the Festival de la Roque d’Anthéron with the Orchestre Philharmonique de l’Opéra de Marseille under the baton of Lawrence Foster. The concert was praised as: "The breathtaking Chopin of young Japanese pianist Masaya Kamei. Under the attentive guidance of maestro Lawrence Foster, the 22-year-old prodigy proved that he is now playing in the big league." (Le Monde)
Masaya Kamei graduated from the Master’s program at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe and advanced to the Solisten Examen program at the same university in September 2025. He is also currently enrolled in the Soloist Diploma Course at Toho Gakuen School of Music. He has studied with Mayuko Aoki, Hideo Sugiura, Hisako Ueno, Michiko Okamoto, Shoichi Hase, and Momo Kodama (piano), and with Akira Suzuki (composition).
His virtuoso and sophisticated playing can be heard on his 2022 solo album "VirtuoZo", which features works by Liszt, Ravel, and Balakirev. In March 2026, he released his second album, on which he performs Saint-Saëns' "Egyptian" Piano Concerto No. 5, as well as Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, with the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Ken Takaseki.