MICHIKO IMURA
Michiko Imura was born in Tokyo, Japan and began studying piano at the age of four. She is a laureate of national and international competitions, including, the Japan Piano Teachers Association in Japan, the Mozart Music Competition in Japan and the Tokyo Music Competition. She won second prize (no first prize awarded) at the Arthur Schnabel Competition in 2013 and got diploma as one of 13 pianists at the International Bach Competition 2014 in Leipzig.
Michiko has performed as a soloist in Austria, France, Italy, Germany and Japan, including, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum in Tokyo, Salle Cortot in Paris and Steinwey-Haus in Berlin. Since 2009, as a Rotary-Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar she has performed also at the Japanese Embassy in Germany and Japanese- German Center Berlin. The Highlights included the Japan-tour sponsored by Austrian Culture Forum in Japan. In 2015, she will give a recital at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo under the auspices of the japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Japan Federation of Musicians.
In addition to her activities as a soloist, Michiko has always taken a genuine interest in chamber music, and she has played in many different ensembles, ranging from duo and Lied accompaniment to piano trio. She has also performed in crossover productions of musical theater, for example with the Nico and the Navigators or in Tokyo with dancers.
She studied at the Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo with Nobuko Kondo, and in 2006 graduated with honorable distinctions the Takeoka Prize, as one of the top honor given by the music department. Between 2006 and 2009, she studied at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with Yu Kakuno, Gabriel Tacchino and Konrad Richter (German Lied), and in 2009, she finished a Master of Music degree with a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations. In 2013 she gained her Performing Diploma and is now continuing her studies for Konzertexamen at University of the Arts Berlin with Klaus Hellwig.
She has further honed her skills and musical expressions in masterclass by such renowned musicians as Dan Thai Son, Dmitri Bashikirov, Willem Brons, Sergei Dorensky, Natalia Trull, Pavel Nersessian, Pascal Devoyon, Arnulf von Arnim and Artemis Quartett.
She is currently based in Tokyo and Berlin.