Forest of Piano is a seinen manga by Makoto Isshiki that was adapted into an anime in 2007 and won the Grand Prize in the Manga Division at the 12th Japan Media Arts Festival. Pianist Niu Niu, who performed the piano parts for the character Pan Wei in the anime, will take the stage at FFG Hall in Fukuoka with a program featuring signature Chopin works and other beloved classical pieces. This marks the second Fukuoka performance following last year's sold-out show.
Concert Details
Date: Sunday, August 9, 2026 — Doors open at 12:30 PM, Concert starts at 1:00 PM
Venue: FFG Hall (2-13-1 Tenjin, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City)
Tickets: General ¥5,000 / Elementary school students ¥2,500 (tax included)
Organizer: e+
Co-organizers: Nishinippon Shimbun / Nishinippon Shimbun Event Service
Ticket Information
Early Sale: March 22 (Sun) 12:00 PM – March 27 (Fri) 6:00 PM
General Sale: From March 28 (Sat) 10:00 AM
Tickets are available through e+:
https://eplus.jp/pianonomori/
Planned Program
The concert will feature Chopin's representative works including "Nocturne," "Waltz of the Little Dog," and "Barcarolle," alongside Liszt's "La Campanella" and a Mozart Piano Sonata.
About Niu Niu
Born in China in 1997, Niu Niu entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music at the age of 8, the youngest student in the school's history. He went on to study at the New England Conservatory and graduated from the prestigious Juilliard School in 2018. He has performed with major orchestras under conductors such as Bělohlávek, Kasprzyk, van Zweden, Yutaka Sado, Naoto Otomo, Norichika Iimori, Ken Takaseki, Yukio Fujioka, and others, appearing with ensembles including the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Pacific Philharmonia Tokyo, Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Gunma Symphony Orchestra, and Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2023, he released "Lifetime," an album featuring works spanning composers of various eras alongside original compositions. In April 2024, he released a live recording CD of "Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Symphony No. 6 'Pathétique'." For the TV anime Forest of Piano, broadcast on NHK in 2018–19 and currently streaming on Netflix and other platforms, Niu Niu handled the piano performance for the role of gifted Chinese pianist Pan Wei. He also participated in the opening program of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, "Physical Twin Symphony."
