Etsuko Hirose

"C. Bechstein concert grand inspires me, teaches me with its rich, magical sound palette, and respond flexibly to every subtle need, like an intimate friend."

Etsuko Hirose

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 Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris and at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in the class of Bruno Rigutto and Nicholas Angelich, she has received the guidance of Alfred Brendel, Marie-Francoise Bucquet and Jorge Chamine. A prizewinner at prestigious international contests such as the Frederic Chopin Competition for young pianists (Moscow), the G. B. Viotti and the Munich ARD Competition, 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, Orchestra Nazionale della RAI Torino, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Synfonia Varsovia, Warsaw National Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and Ural Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of such conductors as Charles Dutoit, Marcello Viotti, Pedro I. Calderon, Dmitri Liss, Jacek Kaspszyk, Augustin Dumay, Faycal Karoui etc. She has also been invited to appear at many festivals, including La Roque d’Antheron, La Folle Journée in Nantes, Tokyo, Warsaw, Ekaterinbourg and Bilbao; the Chopin Festival at Bagatelle, Nohant and in Poland; the Martha Argerich Festival in Japan, Taiwan and Italy; the Festival Radio Classique at L’Olympia in Paris, Lisztomanias, Mozartfest Würzburg, Brussels Piano Festival, Rhodes International Festival, Festival of Piano Rarities in Husum, Festival des Forêts, Festival Piano-Pic, Festival Berlioz and the Festival das Artes in Coimbra (Portugal).

Her performances are regularly broadcast, notably on Arte, France 3, France Musique, Radio Classique, and the NHK. She has recorded numerous discs for Denon, Mirare, Warner and Piano21. Her two most recent recordings were devoted to Lyapunov, with 12 Etudes d’exécution transcendante, an album of piano duets with Cyprien Katsaris as well as piano works of Moritz Moszkowski published on Danacord.

Photos: © Michel Restany