Satoko Hayami, MTNA Young Artist Piano Honorable Mention winner was born in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.  She is currently a junior music performance major at the Bower School of Music at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida where she studies with Dr. Michael Baron, Head of Piano Studies. She has been awarded prizes at Wakayama Music Competition of Japan and as winner of the Beloit College Orchestra Soloist. She has attended the Corsi Internazionali di Musica Summer Music Program at the University of Urbino, Italy. Previously attending Waseda University and Beloit College she has studied with Mari Mori, Michiko Deguchi, and Renato Premezzi. This past year she won the Gray Perry Performance Competition sponsored by the Florida Music Teachers Association.