The Tokyo based Hungarian clarinetist István Kohán is one of the most exciting wind instrumental soloist of today. Kohán launched his career when he won 1st prize and audience prize at the 11th Tokyo Music Competition, Japan in 2013. In 2015 he won 1st prize and audience prize at Japan’s most prestigious music contest the 84th Japanese Music Competition. The same year he won 1st prize and audience prize at Japan Woodwind Competition, 1st prize and Grand Prix at Akiyoshidai Music competition. He got 1st prize at the International Clarinet Associations Young Artist Competition. He won 24 prizes at 15 competitions. In 2013 he won the Junior Prima Award (Music Division). The Japanese The Clarinet magazine wrote about him as „The new hero of the clarinet world”. In 2017 got the Aoyama Music Award.

He performed with orchestras in Japan as the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kioi Sinfonietta with conductors as Antonio Mendez, Kazuki Sawa, Toshiaki Umeda, Masahiko Enkoji, Shigeo Genda. He has been invited to music festivals as Tokyo Spring Festival, KaposFest, La Folle Journée au Japon, Budapest Spring Festival. In addition to his many concerts and activities he is teaching as a lecturer at Tokyo College of Music and he is composing as well. On his concerts among the classical repertory he plays his own compositions and arrangements and also improvises. Kohán is keenly expands the existing clarinet repertoire by writing new pieces what usually inspired by his musical roots. His father is an outstanding klezmer musician so this genre is like a native language for him. The characteristic and world famous Hungarian folk music is also a strongly inspirational source for him.

Kohán is a Yamaha Artist. This collaboration with the Japanese company let him to reach higher levels in his musicality with the best quality of instruments.