Aimi Kobayashi was born in
Ube,
Yamaguchi Prefecture and she lived there until February 2007 and later in
Tokyo, started learning the piano at the age of three, played with an orchestra at age seven, and has been receiving tutelage from Yuko Ninomiya since the age of eight. Kobayashi's awards include three Yamaguchi Prefecture "Glory Culture Prize" and the special
Frédéric Chopin passport from the Polish government. She has performed in France, Brazil, Poland, Russia, South Korea, the United States, and Japan in venues such as the
Salle Cortot (Paris),
Svetlanov Hall (Moscow),
Suntory Hall (Japan), and all three halls of the
Carnegie Hall Complex (New York City).
AADGT (the American Association for Development of the Gifted and Talented), a New York-based non-profit organization, has supported Kobayashi for many years. In 2010, Kobayashi released her CD/DVD debut,
Aimi Kobayashi Debut, followed by another CD,
Passion, for
EMI Classics Japan. In 2011, she made her acting debut in the Japanese film
Sleep directed by
Katsumi Sakaguchi. Kobayashi's management company is
To-On Artist's Promotion Agency, and she graduated from the
Curtis Institute of Music. In 2002, she placed 1st Young Piano Competition Piano Teachers' National Association of Japan In 2009, she won the junior section prize of the Asia-Pacific International Chopin Piano Competition in
South Korea In 2011, she was the gold medalist at the Asia International Chopin Competition for her performance in the concerto section and won the Yasuko Fukuda prize In 2012, she placed 3rd at the
Gina Bachauer Young Artist Competition. She has released three further CDs, two of which exclusively feature music composed by Chopin, and one with music by both Chopin and
Franz Liszt. In 2015, she was a finalist at the
XVII International Chopin Piano Competition. ==References==