Hayato Sumino almost certainly is the hottest classical pianist on the planet.
And if “hot” strikes you as a strange term to apply to a classical musician, it might be time for you to catch up with Sumino. Start with his YouTube video “7 Levels of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” No, seriously. You’ll go in thinking it’s gimmicky (partly because it’s, you know, gimmicky), but you’ll come out thinking, “I think I just heard a bunch of interesting turns on ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.’ How did that happen"?
The answer is that it happened the same way Sumino has amassed nearly 1.5 million followers on YouTube (where he goes by the name “Cateen”).
It starts with the fact that he’s preternaturally talented. Sumino, who grew up in Tokyo, started playing piano at age three. At twenty-three, he won the Grand Prix at the forty-second PTNA Piano Competition. At twenty-four, he won third prize at the Lyon International Piano Competition. And at twenty-six, he was semi-finalist in the International Chopin Piano Competition, drawing a record 45,000 online viewers with his second-round performance. Sumino’s also willing to buck tradition. He’s a risk taker and an improviser who brings both charm and humor to his work. And the result is that not only is he huge online, he has live audiences around the world clamoring to see him perform. Our advice: Get in on the clamoring. You can thank us after the show.
Hayato Sumino is part of the Fine Arts Center's Next50 series.