Yuko Hisamoto

Yuko Hisamoto ，Piano

After graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts Music Department (piano major), she completed the master's course at the same university. She has performed with many orchestras and ensembles in Japan and abroad, including the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Salon Orchestra, and the Berlin String Quartet.

She is highly acclaimed as a pianist who combines intelligence and sensibility, delicacy and dynamism. Lectures and recitals aimed at capturing music from multiple perspectives were introduced in the Asahi Shimbun and Tensei Jingo.

Using original instruments such as Broadwood (1820), Bösendorfer (1829), Pleyel (1843), Erard (1868), etc., she has also worked on many concerts and recordings using historical instruments, pursuing the sound and aesthetics sought by composers in each era.

In 2010, on the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth, she performed in concerts using the Pleyel throughout the country. She performed in the presence of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress at Ohga Hall in Karuizawa. Her recital in Vienna in 2011 was featured on the cover of an Austrian piano magazine, and she was the only Japanese to receive the title of Bösendorfer Artist.

In 2013, as part of the Kunitachi College of Music 90th Anniversary Commemorative Project Musical Instrument Museum Piano Project, she performed in a concert using five historical musical instruments. "Broadwood" (Suntory Hall Blue Rose).

In 2012 and 2014, she was invited to give recitals at the International Mozart Festival in Italy. The performance was televised all over Italy and gained popularity. In 2017, she held a recital at the invitation of the Italian International Mozart Association (Lovereto) (performed using the fortepiano "Walter Model").

She is a two-time winner of the Mainichi 21st Century Award. In 1997, she went to JAIMS (Japan-America Institute of Management Science) to study business administration as a special prize. During that time, she studied music production theory at the Honolulu Symphony and completed the course with an award for excellence.

She has released 13 CDs so far. "Elegant Mozart" was selected as the Mainichi Shimbun CD Special Edition and Record Geijutsu Special Edition, and "Beethoven 'Therese' 'Waldstein'" received high praise from Gramophone magazine, such as "The best Beethoven no matter how you look at it".

Her publications include "Research on Mozart's Piano Music" (Ongakunotomosha), "How did Mozart play?" (Maruzen), "I want to play the original version! Piano", "Chopin and Pleyel Piano", "Liszt and Bösendorfer Piano" (Gakken Plus) and many others.

She is a professor at Kunitachi College of Music, Bösendorfer Artist, Director of Japan Latvian Music Association, and Councilor of PTNA (All Japan Piano Teachers Association).

photo credit

© Katsuo Sakayori