Music professor Nariaki Sugiura poses Monday in Hughes Fine Arts Center. Photo by Jennifer Friese/The Dakota Student.

Since his arrival three years ago, music professor Nariaki Sugiura, with his skill and dedication, has proved to be a valuable addition the music department at UND.

Born and raised in Japan, Sugiura started taking piano lessons from his mother at age 5. He decided that he wanted to make piano his career when he was only 10 years old, and practiced between 12 and 13 hours per weekend in junior high.

“A pianist named Stanislav Bunin, who won the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition that year, made a sensational debut in Japan with 25 concerts, and I was fortunate to attend one,” he said.

Sugiura said he considered applying to Juilliard for his undergraduate studies, but he decided to attend Indiana University instead.

“After taking a few trial lessons there, I really liked the teaching of the professor and decided to stay,” he said.

Sugiura earned an undergraduate degree in piano performance and a masters and doctor of music in piano performance at Indiana University.

Sugiura went on to win prestigious piano competitions and collaborated with several major world artists. He has performed in 25 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, China, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Malta and Hungary.

“My favorite performance was at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2012,” Sugiura said. “A violin student I had formerly worked with was invited to perform there, and she asked me to accompany her.”

He worked at both Indiana University and DePauw University in Indiana before coming to UND in August 2011.

“I applied for a job in New Zealand at the same time, so I had to choose between Grand Forks — a small city in a big country, or a big city in the small country of New Zealand,” he said. “I liked the idea of Grand Forks better because I could do more to build the program in a secluded place, but I would still be able to travel around the U.S. teaching or performing.”

During his time at UND, Suguira has been impressed with the students and faculty.

“I thought that everyone would be shy and closed-minded, but that was not the case; I actually found that everyone is very focused and works hard,” he said.

In Sugiura’s first year at UND, he noticed the need for a staff accompanist. During his time as a piano professor and staff accompanist at DePauw University, he met fellow staff accompanist Keith Teepen and convinced him to fulfill UND’s need for an accompanist.

Teepen is now in his second year at UND and, to some, is viewed as Sugiura’s right-hand man.

“(Sugiura) is very dedicated and willing to help; anyone can come to him any hour of the day,” Teepen said. “His life is his job, and he wants what is best for the program.”

While he enjoys teaching and seeing his students improve, his job consists of much more. He organizes performances and master classes for UND, featuring guests from around the world to show students what is going on in our region and beyond.

Sugiura also has traveled around the U.S. and Asia promoting the program and recruiting new students.

“I want to create a program where UND is one of the top places to consider for someone who wants to study piano and collaborative piano seriously,” said Sugiura.

In addition, the vocal and instrumental majors rely on piano for accompaniment, so getting students to work together benefits the program as a whole.

“Dr. Sugiura has a heart for chamber music,” cello professor Simona Barbu said.

Barbu started teaching at UND at the same time as Sugiura, and the two have collaborated many times.

“The String Quartet was already big when he came here, but he also formed the Red River Trio last year,” Barbu said.

The Red River Trio was a piano, cello and violin group of UND students, including Teepen, that performed around the Midwest and in Asia last year. Sugiura is busy forming a new trio that will consist of voice, cello and piano to follow the success of the first.

“He is very focused and goal-oriented, but it’s not just for himself,” Barbu said. “His goals concern the people around him as well, and that shows in his passion for collaboration. He wants others to experience success, not just be successful on his own.”

As the next step in promoting UND’s music program, Barbu and Sugiura will be traveling to the southern region of the U.S., Hungary and Romania in March to perform recitals and master classes.

Sugiura and Barbu are performing Cello and Piano Recital at Josephine Campbell Recital Hall in the Hughes Fine Arts Building on March 1 at 8 p.m. The event will include the new Red River Trio group organized by Sugiura.

Emmy Erbes is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].