Emiko Uchiyama

From a very young age, Emiko Uchiyama performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria, Osaka Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Metropolitan Police Orchestra, Sapporo Symphony, and Okayama Symphony Orchestra. In 2000, she won first prize at the Junior Percussion Competition in Japan. In 2002, she was a finalist at the 3rd World Marimba Competition in Stuttgart, where she also received the Keiko Abe Prize. In 2005, she earned third prize at the 4th World Marimba Competition in Shanghai. The following year, she was invited by the Percussive Arts Society to perform with marimba legend Keiko Abe at PASIC, the annual percussion convention.

Emiko began studying with Keiko Abe at the age of ten and also trained with master marimbist Yoshihisa Mizuno. She graduated top of her class from the prestigious Toho-Gakuen School of Music in 2006. She continued her studies at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Austria with Bogdan Bacanu, Leonhard Schmidinger and Josef Gumpinger, where she obtained her Master's degree. She was also awarded the "First High Talented Scholarship" from Unisono. She is currently continuing her education with Prof. Dr. Peter Sadlo at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg.

In 2007, Emiko and her duo partner Vladimir Petrov, as Wave Duo, won first prize at the Universal Marimba Competition Belgium. They also received the Sabam Prize for Best Interpretation of the required piece, the Keiko Abe Prize again, and the Audience Prize.

Emiko’s busy touring schedule has taken her to Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria, the USA, Hong Kong, South Korea, China, and all major cities in Japan, where her performances were met with high acclaim. In 2009, she served as a jury member at the International Marimba Competition Salzburg and taught at the Marimba and Percussion Festival in Bulgaria, as well as at various locations across Europe and Japan.

In addition to performing, she released the marimba duo album Tango in 2008 on Classic Concert Records, followed by the quartet album Aurora Borealis in 2009. As a member of a quartet, she also recorded J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Harpsichords under the direction of Peter Sadlo, with the baroque ensemble Salzburg Barock. In 2009, she released her first solo CD: Emiko.

Emiko Uchiyama is an Adams Artist and ambassador for the Dutch instrument brand Adams.