This places her among an illustrious group of award winners, including outstanding musicians such as Alfred Brendel, Daniel Barenboim, Maurizio Pollini, András Schiff, Krystian Zimerman, and Evgeny Kissin. Yet, even though one can truly speak of history written by the top artist born in Buenos Aires in 1941 during her more than 70-year (!) stage career, Martha Argerich continues to look relentlessly and curiously toward the future—and has already made many discoveries.

Like few other artists of her stature, “La Martha,” as her fans admirably and respectfully call her, has devoted herself to the promotion of young piano talents: She serves as a juror at international competitions, where she herself had often emerged as a winner in her early years, as a teacher, coach, mentor, and generous host in her private home. She also takes care of the next generation of pianists at festivals she personally initiated or which are under her patronage, such as the “Progetto Martha Argerich” in Lugano, which took place annually until 2016. Another important event series in this regard is the Martha Argerich Festival, founded in 2018, which is held annually in cooperation with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra.

Akane Sakai
One of the names closely associated with the Hamburg Festival is Akane Sakai. Born in Nagoya, Japan, she studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo and then moved to study under Alan Weiss at the renowned Lemmens Institute in Leuven, Belgium. Further stages of her education led Akane Sakai to Lilya Zilberstein and Pavel Gililov. Her performances with prominent artistic colleagues and orchestras, including Kremerata Baltica, the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, as well as appearances at festivals like the Piano Festival Ruhr and La Roque d’Anthéron, followed. Akane Sakai’s connection with Martha Argerich extends beyond their work together at the festival in Hamburg, where she has been part of the team as an artistic planner since its founding. She also frequently performs as a regular chamber music and duo partner with the great colleague: a close partnership that will also captivate during their joint concert in Dortmund at this year’s Piano Festival.

Photo: Adriano Heitman