Yoko Kikuchi
 

Yoko Kikuchi was born in Japan.
In 1996 she moved to Italy in order to complete her studies at the "Incontri col Maestro" International Piano Academy in Imola (Franco Scala, and fortepiano with Stefano Fiuzzi).
In 2002, she won the first Prize at the Internationalen Mozart Competition in Salzburg, since then she performed with major orchestra in Asia and in Europe.
Yoko has performed with many conductors including Lawrence Foster, Ivor Bolton, Gerd Albrecht, Dennis Russel Davis, Leif Segerstam, HK Gruber, Dan Ettinget, Pedro Halffter, Christian Arming among others. In the field of chamber music, Yoko regularly collaborates with hornist Radek Baborak, bassoon player Daniele Damiano, violinst Rainer Honeck, double bass player Edicson Ruiz. 

She performed with the NDR Radio Philharmonie Orchester Hannover, Gulbenkian Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica National Argentina, Orchestra Symphonique de Bretagne, Orchestra da Camera di Mantova, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Shengzhen Orchestra, all Japanese Orchestras and others.

She also participated in several music festivals such as Salzburger Festival, Prague Spring Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Tokyo Spring Festival, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and others.

Yoko is also passionate about other forms of art and she collaborated with The Tokyo Ballet and classical ballet dancers including Svetlana Zakharova, Diana Vishneva, Matthieu Ganio, Marcelo Gomes, Alessandra Ferri, Miyako Yoshida, Mizuka Ueno and others.

Her debut CD (Mozart) was awarded the 18th Music Pen Club Prize "Best recording by a Japanese Artist". Since the ten more CDs have been released.
Yoko is living in Vienna.