Described by the BBC Music Magazine, “strong and sensitive” and “dazzling”, Japanese pianist Mami Shikimori has been exciting audiences since first appearing on stage in 1996. Her playing has been noted for the expressive power and poetic insight, combined with effortless technical ability and it has been described as “electrifying” and “a dazzling revelation” by critics. She has performed at numerous world-renowned concert venues including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Cadogan Hall, St. John’s, Smith Square, Bridgewater Hall and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall.
Her debut solo CD, comprising of Mozart Rondo in A minor K511, Brahms Sonata in F minor Op 5, and Ravel La Valse, released by Claudio Records label has received a five-star review in Musical Opinion which stated the CD was “deeply impressive” “brilliantly successful” and the US music magazine Fanfare commented “the playing is elegant and pristine, beautifully phrased and full of color. It is a pleasure to see old friends in new surroundings, and it is a pleasure as well to hear these two moving works at a new vantage point through the forthright and loving hands (and fingers) of this fine artist”, while Recording Arts (Ongaku no tomo) of Japan praised her playing, saying “Shikimori’s every touch brings out beautiful nuances from the melodic lines.”
Mami Shikimori graduated from the Royal College of Music in London with the highest honour for the graduation recital, winning the Marjorie and Arnold Ziff Prize for Outstanding Diploma Recital as well as the Hopkinson Gold Medal and numerous other prizes for solo piano and the Principal’s Special Award. Thereafter, she won a full scholarship to attend Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. Her teachers include Jean Anderson, Bernard Roberts and Christopher Elton. Mami Shikimori has received multiple awards including winning Ibla International Competition’s “Most Distinguished Musician” Prize with a special mention on her performance of Debussy’s music, as well as top prize at the Alice Bel Colle and other international competitions. Other awards include the Millicent Silver Prize, the Peter Walfisch Schubert Prize, the Emanuel Trophy and Mami was made an ‘Adopted Daughter of Pasay City’ an honorary citizenship awarded by the Mayor of that city, following a charity concert she gave at the Philam Life Theatre, Philippines,
Mami Shikimori is much in demand as a solo recitalist, chamber music player and concerto soloist and has performed in the UK, in Europe and USA (New York and Los Angeles) as well as frequently being invited to perform in Asian cities such as Bangkok, Manila, Tokyo and Fukuoka. She has broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, as well as NHK, KBC and FBS in Japan, the Grand 101 in Canada, and on Classical KUSC, America’s largest and most listened to public radio classical music station. Alongside her solo work, Mami has collaborated with such distinguished musicians as the Wihan String Quartet, Coull Quartet, violinist Masayuki Kino, conductors Alexander Walker, Adrian Shepherd, Keith Marshall, John Traill, Yukio Kitahara and Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi. With violinist Masayuki Kino (Soloist/Concertmaster, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra), she performed a Wigmore Hall recital in 2013 and recorded an all-Khachaturian CD for NAR label and she made her solo appearance at the Wigmore Hall in 2014, performing Schubert in Bernard Roberts Memorial Concert.
Recent highlights include a solo recital at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto with Japan’s foremost orchestra, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi at the Acros Symphony Hall, Mozart Concerto K488 with the English Chamber Orchestra directed by Stephanie Gonley at London’s Cadogan Hall, a solo recital at the inaugural concert of Kyushu Community Hall in Japan, the Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto with the Oxford Proms Orchestra in a sell-out concert at the Sheldonian Theatre, Franck and Faure Piano Quintets with Czech’s renowned Wihan String Quartet in Japan’s FFG Hall. Her third album “Tchaikovsky Piano Music” was released by Naxos and it is currently receiving enthusiastic attention internationally. The recording was chosen as “Disc of the month” in a major Japanese magazine “Ongaku-no-Tomo” as well as receiving critical acclaim in the UK, France, Spain and the USA and it is frequently being broadcast on major radio stations such as BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. Her recording was recently featured in a Canadian radio programme “Women in music” on the Grand 101 and on Classic FM’s Full Works Concert, programme entitled “Rarely heard gems”.