Japanese violinist Risa Hokamura whose playing was praised as “both powerful and reflective, sweet and steely” (Upstage, Indianapolis), first came to international attention upon winning First Prize in the 2018 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions at the age of seventeen, as well as the Tannery Pond Concerts Prize, The Ruth Laredo Memorial Prize, and The Ronald A. Asherson Prize, and the Silver Medal at the 2018 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, where she performed Tchaikovsky Concerto with the Indianapolis Symphony conducted by Leonard Slatkin. 

Risa’s recital highlights have included Merkin Concert Hall debut and Kennedy Center Terrace Theater debut presented by Young Concert Artists, Kioi Hall debut, and The Symphony Hall debut.
She has performed with notable orchestras including Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, East Coast Chamber Orchestra, Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Sapporo Symphony Orchestra and Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra.

Risa has participated as a chamber musician in festivals such as Music@Menlo, Taipei Music Academy and Festival, and Takefu International Festival. Her chamber music collaborators have included Nobuko Imai, Kei Itoh, Paul Neubauer, Marcy Rosen, and Hsin-Yun Huang.

A native of Japan, Risa Hokamura began the violin at the age of 3, and began studying with Kenji Kobayashi at the age of 7. She started to capture top prizes in competitions in Japan at the age of 10. She is currently pursuing Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance at Manhattan School of Music as a Full Scholarship student under the tutelage of Koichiro Harada, Lucie Robert, and additional studies with Cho-Liang Lin. She also got the Artist Diploma Degree at Tokyo College of Music in 2023 where she studied with Koichiro Harada, Machie Oguri, and Mayuko Kamio. 

She is a recipient of scholarship from the Ezoe Memorial Foundation.

Risa plays the 1722 “Jupiter” Stradivarius violin on generous loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.