Born in Nagoya in Japan, Etsuko Hirose began studying the piano at the age of three. When she was only six she performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto no.26 with orchestra. After pursuing her studies at the École Normale de Musique in Paris, in the class of Germaine Mounier, she entered the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in the class of Bruno Rigutto and Nicholas Angelich, and in 1999 was awarded a Premier Prix in piano by unanimous decision and the Prix Daniel Magne. She is currently rounding off her training with Marie-Francoise Bucquet and Jorge Chamine, and more recently also Alfred Brendel, for whom she had the privilege of playing and whose guidance she has received.

A prizewinner at prestigious international contests such as the Frédéric Chopin Competition for young pianists (Moscow), the G. B. Viotti Competition (Italy) and the ARD Competition in Munich,
she won First Prize at the Martha Argerich Competition in 1999, which launched her solo career.

She is a guest at such renowned venues as the Herkulessaal in Munich, Kennedy Center in Washington, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, and Suntory Hall and Orchard Hall in Tokyo, and has been accompanied by leading orchestras including the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional Argentina, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of such conductors as Charles Dutoit, Marcello Viotti, Pedro I. Calderon... She has also been invited to appear at many festivals, including La Roque d’Antheron, La Folle Journée in Nantes, Tokyo, Warsaw and Bilbao ; the Chopin Festival at Bagatelle,
Taiwan and Italy ; the Festival Radio Classique at L’Olympia in Paris...

Her performances are regularly broadcast, notably on Arte, France 3, France Musique, Radio Classique, and the NHK.

She has recorded four discs on Denon, and her latest discs “Chopin: Ballades & Nocturnes” and “Schumann & Liszt: Piano Concertos” were released on Mirare.

Languages spoken: Japanese, French

Photo credit: Akira Muto