Sara Watanabe
Violin
Sara Watanabe was born in Hyogo in 2005 and graduated from the Soai University Music School for Children. She won First Prize in the Violin Division of the 91st Music Competition of Japan, and also received the Masuzawa, Leucadia, Sumi, and Kuroyanagi Prizes. She was a semi-finalist at the 13th International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition and the 3rd Singapore International Violin Competition. Her other honors include the 25th Matsukata Hall Music Award and the IMA Music Award from the Ishikawa Music Academy.
She successfully passed the Hama-no-JACK Soloist Audition (Z Category) and performed with an orchestra comprised primarily of members of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra, and the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra. She contributed to the TBS television drama Sayonara Maestro as both performer and performance coach. She is currently a Fellow of the 8th Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy.
She performs on a 1779 J. B. Guadagnini violin, kindly loaned to her by the ITOH Foundation. After studying with Mauro Iurato, she is currently studying under Machie Oguri and Koichiro Harada. A graduate of the Tokyo College of Music High School, she is now enrolled at the Tokyo College of Music as a Special Scholarship Student.
CHANEL Pygmalion Days 2026 Artist.
(As of November, 2025)
She successfully passed the Hama-no-JACK Soloist Audition (Z Category) and performed with an orchestra comprised primarily of members of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra, and the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra. She contributed to the TBS television drama Sayonara Maestro as both performer and performance coach. She is currently a Fellow of the 8th Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy.
She performs on a 1779 J. B. Guadagnini violin, kindly loaned to her by the ITOH Foundation. After studying with Mauro Iurato, she is currently studying under Machie Oguri and Koichiro Harada. A graduate of the Tokyo College of Music High School, she is now enrolled at the Tokyo College of Music as a Special Scholarship Student.
CHANEL Pygmalion Days 2026 Artist.
(As of November, 2025)
