Canon Shibata

Celebrated for her "technically flawless and extraordinarily expressive playing" (Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi), cellist Canon Shibata has established herself as one of the most notable Japanese cellists of the rising generation.

Canon was the first prize winner of the 14th Viva Hall International Music Competition and the second prize winner of the 92nd Music Competition of Japan. In 2022, she won the Grand Prize at Canada’s Robert W. and G. Ann Corcoran Concerto Competition, and the following year, achieved first prize in the Duo and Chamber divisions of the GGS Chamber Music Competition. In November 2024, Canon was selected as a 2025 CHANEL Pygmalion Days Artist.

As a soloist, Canon has performed with prestigious orchestras such as the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, and the Gumma Symphony Orchestra, collaborating with notable conductors including Joshua Weilerstein, Naoto Otomo, and Toshiaki Umeda.

Canon Shibata plays on a rare 1694 Giovanni Grancino cello generously loaned by the Munetsugu Collection, and a Eugène Sartory bow loaned by Mr. Kenji Nishimura. She is supported by the Ezoe Memorial Recruit Foundation, Rohm Foundation, Yamaha Music Foundation, Rotary Japan Showa, and the Tokuji Munetsugu Music Foundation, and has been awarded the Daiko Foundation’s Scholarship Study Prize.