Karen Kuronuma was born in Tokyo in 1998.
She won Second Prize at the 11th Frédéric Chopin International Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Poland. She was also a finalist at the 15th Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists and received the Special Prize at the PTNA Piano Competition, category G.
She entered the Music High School attached to the Faculty of Music at Tokyo University of the Arts. At the age of 16 she won First Prize in the Nomura Academy Award, the Iguchi Aiko Prize, the Music Encouragement Prize and the NHK Prize at the 68th Japan Music Competition, in the high school section.
She made her debut as a soloist with the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra, performing Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1. She has given recitals in Hokkaido, Tokyo and Hyogo. Winning the 2018 Muza Soloist audition, Karen Kuronuma was the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra's soloist in The Masterpiece Classics in 2020 with Ravel's Piano Concerto in G.
While many concerts have been cancelled and postponed due to the COVID19 crisis, The
Masterpiece Classics has taken a new approach by broadcasting the concert without an audience on Niconico Live, which has been viewed over 10 million times and acclaimed by the media for the new possibilities offered by classical concerts today. The CD of the live broadcast, entitled Live from Muza! won the Oscar for Best Recording in the Special Category and the Music Pen Club Special Award.
In 2021, she also released her first solo piano CD since Live from Muza, entitled 'Les soirées françaises', which won rave reviews for its interpretation of Maurice Ravel and Francis Poulenc.
Karen is regarded as the most remarkable talent of the younger generation.
After graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts, she began her studies at the CNSM in Paris in 2021. She won the Dany Pouchucq scholarship prize at the Ravel Festival in 2020, the Medal of Honour prize at the 67th Maria Canals competition in 2022, 1st prize at the Maria Giubilei competition, and the Gautier Capuçon Foundation prize in 2023. She has given solo and chamber music recitals in France, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Japan. In 2022, she was selected by Association Jeunes Talents and has collaborated with pianist Noriko Ogawa, conductors Naoto Otomo, Daisuke Mogi, Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Péter Csaba, violinist Mohamed Hiber and trumpeter Romain Leleu, cellist Peter Maintz, oboist Hans-Jörg Schellenberger, and soprano Juliane-Banse.
She was selected for the Santander Academy in 2023.
Karen obtained her piano diploma at the Tokyo University of the Arts under the direction of Chiharu Sakai and Koji Shimoda, and is currently studying at the Conservatoire National de Musique et de Danse de Paris with Reiko Hozu, and at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles with Johan Schmidt.