Kazuko Hiyama

• Concertist

Accompanying pianist at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon, and piano teacher at the Conservatories of the VIIth and XVIth districts of Paris.

Born in Osaka, Japan, she began playing the piano at the age of four with her pianist mother, then became a student of Nobuyosi Kato until she graduated from the Toho-Gakuen High School of Music. From this first “Japanese” period, we remember her performance of Chopin’s second concerto at the age of fifteen with the New City Philharmony of Tokyo. She then chose to turn to the country she had dreamed of since her childhood: France. She moved to Paris in 1996 and went directly to the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris in the class of Olivier Gardon where she was unanimously awarded the First Prize in 1997.

She then entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (CNSM) in Paris where she won prizes in piano (in 2002) with Georges Pludermacher, Claire Désert, François-Frédéric Guy, and in chamber music with Christian Ivaldi and Itamar Golan. She continued her piano studies at the CNSM in Lyon with Géry Moutier and completed her chamber music training with Paul Meyer and Eric Le Sage. Since 2004 and her meeting with Patrick Cohen, she has developed her passion for historical instruments such as the fortepiano, the romantic piano and the clavichord.

She has won several international competitions and was sponsored by the Cultural Office of Japan between 2003 and 2005.

She regularly gives concerts as a soloist or chamber musician in France, Japan and abroad. She was heard live on France Musique during a meeting with Aldo Ciccolini in Montpellier. She has also played several times with Paul Meyer and Patrick Cohen. She has performed on several famous stages: Lyon Opera, Théâtre Mogador, “Piano Passion” or “Musikalia” festivals, Lyon Auditorium where she played Beethoven’s triple concerto with the National Orchestra of Lyon under the direction of Ludovic Morlot or Tchaikovsky’s first concerto with the CNSM Orchestra of Lyon under the direction of Peter Csaba. But also the Esplanade of Saint-Etienne with the Saint-Etienne Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Martin Lebel. She also opened up to contemporary creation with the choreographic show “L’intrus” under the direction of Jean-Marie Adrien.

In parallel to her career as a performer, she worked as an accompanist pianist at the CNSM in Lyon and then at the Conservatories of the VIIth and XVIth districts of Paris.

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LANGUAGES: Classes are given in French and Japan