is a pianist and music educator. She was born and raised in Japan where she received her early to advanced musical training. As an adult, she rediscovered her love of classical piano, which continues to this day. She studied piano performance at San Francisco State University under Dr. Victoria Neve, and Dr. Roger Woodward, and chamber music with the Alexander String Quartet.

Akiko continued her studies and earned a master’s degree in Music with an emphasis on Piano Performance at California State University, East Bay, under Dr. Omri Shimron.

Akiko has a special love of Chopin and during her extensive experience studying Chopin pieces at Uniwersytet Muzyczny Frederyka Chopina (The Chopin University of Music) in Warsaw, Poland, under the prestigious piano teachers, Professors Jerzy Romaniuk and Jerzy Sterczynsky.

As a result of winning the concerto competition. Akiko played Chopin piano concerto no.1, first movement, with San Francisco State University Orchestra.

She also played in Master Classes with Dr. Gwendolyn Mok, Ms. Sandra Wright Sheng, Dr. William Wellborn, Dr. Nadia Shpachenko, and Dr. Betty Woo.

In her piano teaching, Akiko adopts a balanced approach to music, integrating musicality and physical awareness with a history-based approach to timbre and style. In addition, she believes that it is most important to share with her students not only the technical aspects but also the real pleasure of music as an art form.

Ms. Akiko is fluent in English and Japanese.