Photo/Illutration Aimi Kobayashi and Kyohei Sorita in 2021 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Internationally acclaimed pianists Kyohei Sorita and Aimi Kobayashi made the surprise announcement they are now married and expecting their first child.

They waited until New Year’s Day to release the news on social media.

“We are happy to share with you our exciting news that we, Aimi Kobayashi and Kyohei Sorita, recently got married and are expecting a baby later in the year,” they said on their Twitter accounts.

As fellow musicians, the couple said they will be able to devote themselves more to their music.

In 2021, Sorita, 28, became the first pianist from Japan in 51 years to win the second prize in the prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.

Kobayashi, 27, placed fourth in the same contest, which is usually held every five years.

The Chopin Competition, one of the world’s three major classical music events, has helped launch the careers of noted pianists such as Mitsuko Uchida of Japan, who placed second in the 1970 contest.

Sorita, a native of Sapporo, won the Music Competition of Japan in 2012 and studied in Russia and Poland. He also directs the Japan National Orchestra, which he created to give musicians a stable environment in which to pursue their activities.

Kobayashi, a native of Yamaguchi Prefecture, made her international debut at the age of 9, performing at the Carnegie Hall in New York. 

Sorita and Kobayashi have known each other since they were children as their respective families often mingled.

“I was filled with deep emotion when I realized that we, childhood friends, could make it to the final round together,” Sorita said of Kobayashi, referring to their entries in the Chopin contest. “I was so delighted.”

Kobayashi said Sorita has been like a relative to her as he was a neighbor she saw often, rather than a musical friend.

“We went to the Chopin competition and were able to both advance to the final round to get a good place,” she said. “It is a strange and happy feeling.”

Kobayashi entered the Chopin competition for the first time in 2015 but did not win a prize.

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