Rieko Aizawa, piano
Japanese pianist Rieko Aizawa has performed throughout the US, Canada, and Europe, including New York City’s Lincoln Center, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, and London’s Wigmore Hall. At the age of 13, Ms. Aizawa was recommended by the pianist Mitsuko Uchida to the conductor Alexander Schneider. She performed with his ensembles as soloist at Tokyo’s Casals Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall.
Ms. Aizawa is also an active chamber musician. The youngest-ever participant at the Marlboro Music Festival, she has performed as a guest with string quartets such as the Guarneri and Orion quartets. She is a founding member of the Horszowski Trio and the prize-winning Duo Prism. Ms. Aizawa became artistic director of the Alpenglow Chamber Music Festival in Colorado in 2010.
Recently, Ms. Aizawa’s solo debut recording of Scriabin’s and Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes was released by Altus in Japan, and her second album of Messiaen’s and Fauré’s preludes is coming out next year. Ms. Aizawa also has a great interest in exploring unusual repertoire, such as the Salieri Piano Concerto in C Major that she performed with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Hans Graf, to critical acclaim.
Ms. Aizawa was the last pupil of Mieczysław Horszowski at the Curtis Institute and she also studied with Seymour Lipkin and Peter Serkin at the Juilliard School. Ms. Aizawa lives in New York City, and she is on the faculty at Longy School of Music of Bard College and at Brooklyn College. Ms. Aizawa is a Steinway Artist.