Yukiko Sekino, piano

The Gold Medalist of the 2006 International Russian Music Piano Competition, Yukiko Sekino is a pianist of versatility and wide-ranging interests. Her playing has been praised as “thrilling, inspirational” by Florida Sun-Sentinel and noted for “elegance of line, leaping energy” by San Jose Mercury News. Since making her debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at age sixteen, she has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the New World Symphony, Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, Lakeside Symphony, Nova Vista Symphony, and Suburban Symphony.

Performing the Rachmaninoff Piano Concert No. 3 during the final round of the International Russian Music Piano Competition, Ms. Sekino was awarded, through audience vote, the Public Prize in addition to the first prize. Other competition successes include those at the Japanese-American Association of New York Competition, MTNA National Yamaha Competition, and concerto competitions at SUNY Stony Brook, New World Symphony, and Harvard University.

An avid chamber musician, Ms. Sekino has been invited to Tanglewood, Kneisel Hall, Music Academy of the West, and Thy (Denmark) festivals. While a fellow at Tanglewood Music Center, she received the Jackson Prize, and her solo and chamber performances were broadcast on WQXR-FM New York’s “Music from Tanglewood” Series for two years. She recently completed a three-year term as the pianist of New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. During her tenure, she appeared in numerous chamber music and orchestra concerts in Florida and New York.

Ms. Sekino is an enthusiastic performer of new music. She has been a soloist in such unusual 20th century works as Xenakis’ Eonta and Palimpsest, and has premiered works in New York, Miami, and at Tanglewood. She was a member of the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players from 2002 - 2005.

Ms. Sekino is a graduate of Harvard University, where she majored in biochemistry, the Juilliard School, where she received a master's in piano performance, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she obtained her doctorate. Her teachers include Gilbert Kalish, Seymour Lipkin, Robert Levin, and Eda Shlyam. Ms. Sekino has just completed a year as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Colby College in Maine