Yuko HISAMOTO (Piano)

Yuko Hisamoto was born in Fukuoka, Japan, on Kyushu Island. She grew up in Tokyo, and she earned both her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Piano from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. She has performed recitals throughout Japan, as well as abroad in cities such as Vienna, Saint Petersburg, and Riga. She has appeared with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, Telemann Chamber Orchestra, and Kobe Chamber Orchestra and so on. She has performed with the Berlin String Quartet and other chamber groups. She has also appeared on NHK(Japanese Public Broadcasting)radio broadcasts. She has recorded and released several works of Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin on numerous CDs, which have been favorably reviewed by music critics and covered by the press. She has an original recital style, in which she not only performs, but also lectures on the background of a famous composer from the past. The unique concert format is well-known and was featured in the popular Japanese column TENSEIJINGO in Asahi Shinbun, one of Japan's leading newspapers. She has published three books entitled Mozart in Age of Youth(2004), How Did Mozart Play?(2000), and Looking for Mozart' Clavier Music(1998) based on her own research. In an essay contest sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun(another leading Japanese newspaper)and open to the public, she won first prize two years in a row. As a supplementary prize, she received the opportunity to study abroad at Hawaii'JAIMS Institute(Japan-America Institute of Management Science) where she completed a degree in Comparative Study of Cultures and Art Production, graduating with honors. Simultaneously, she learned music management while working in the office of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. *official website