Winning Entries of Global Contest Announced at the 2016 NAMM Show

For Immediate Release

Rebecca Genel
Global PR/Media Relations Manager
Roland Corporation
(323) 890-3718
Rebecca.Genel@roland.com

Hamamatsu, Japan, January 20, 2016 — Roland is proud to announce the winners of the Roland Digital Piano Design Awards – a competition that offered a unique opportunity for forward-thinking designers to create the piano of the future. Roland Corporation CEO and Representative Director, Mr. Jun-ichi Miki, made the announcement during Roland’s press conference on January 20, at the 2016 NAMM musical instruments trade show in Anaheim, California.

The winning entries are: Grand Prize: “Facet Grand Piano” by Mr. Jong Chan Kim (USA), Excellence Award: “SONUS” by Mr. Nicola Russo (Italy), Incentive Award: “emptiX” by Mr. Naohisa Uchiyama (Japan), Incentive Award: “Swan” by Mr. Taro Saito (Japan), Incentive Award: “Space Classica” by Mr. Tomasz Miłosz (Portugal), Incentive Award: “Black Swan” by Mr. Matei Cristescu (Romania), and Incentive Award: “Amber Unleashed” by Miss Rebekah Winegarner (USA).

The contest was open to all designers and design students worldwide. Entrants were challenged to conceive a digital grand piano of the future that breaks away from tradition, focusing on the look and outer structure of the piano, with the option to propose alternative digital functions and sounds as part of their concept as well. Entries were judged on criteria such as originality, aesthetic superiority, elegance, and incorporation of digital piano benefits, all under the contest theme, “unleash.”

Winners were selected from more than 128 aspiring works from all over the world, as evaluated by a judging committee consisting of professionals and experts from Roland Corporation. They selected one Grand Prize and one Excellence Award. Originally, one Incentive Award had also been planned, but five were awarded based on the large number of high-caliber entries. The Grand Prize-winning design, “Facet Grand Piano,” was selected because it was accurately, attractively and uniquely structured as a concert grand piano. The Excellence Award-winning “SONUS” was praised for its elegance and uniqueness, having both the piano body and bench on a single, continuous ring.

“We would like to thank everyone that took the time to submit a contest entry. It was inspiring to review all of the creative ideas and an honor to select the winners. Our goal at Roland is to help inspire artists all over the world to unleash their greatest ideas, and we will continue to do our best to provide the very best musical products to allow this to happen,” stated Mr. Jun-ichi Miki.

For more information, visit the official Roland Digital Piano Design Awards website.

About Roland Corporation
Roland Corporation is a leading manufacturer and distributor of electronic musical instruments, including keyboards and synthesizers, guitar products, electronic percussion, digital recording equipment, amplifiers, audio processors, and multimedia products. With more than 40 years of musical instrument development, Roland sets the standard in music technology for the world to follow. For more information, visit http://www.RolandUS.com.