Ayako Fujiki - Fantasia (2019)

Born in Tokyo, Ayako Fujiki started playing the piano as a young child and performed her first concert at age seven, playing Beethoven and Chopin. She has been performing in various international music festivals and important halls in Japan, Spain, UK, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Colombia and Bulgaria.

Ayako has developed her skill with one of the greatest pianists of 20th century, Alicia de Larrocha (also the 1st Spanish artist to win the UNESCO prize) and widow of Igor Marchevich, Carlota Garriga at the Marshall Academy, Barcelona, specializing in Spanish music also, with Carmen Bravo Mompou, specializing also in the compositions of Frederic Mompou, with Jan Wijn at the Amsterdam Conservatory, Holland, with Chung Lee at Graz University, Austria, with Narcis Bonet at the L’Ecole Normale du Paris, France, with Irina Ossipova, Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, with Christopher Elton, Royal Academy of Music, London, and many other major Japanese pianists including Naoko Matsuno and Momoyo Nakai. According to Carlota Garriga “she proves to have high sensitivity and excellent piano playing skills” and from Carmen Mompou “she certainly has a promising career ahead”.

In 2005, she was honored with the diploma “Specialization in Spanish music”. In 2007, she was awarded title of “Master of Spanish Music”. She was Finalist in the International Piano Competition, Vienna. She has played as a soloist Chopin Piano Concerto with the orchestra formed by The Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu members. In 2016, she was invited by the music festival “41th Winter Music Evenings” in Bulgaria to perform Schumann Concert in A minor and had the privilege of working with such a distinguished director Sir Palikarov and with the Pazardjik Symphony Orchestra in Bulgaria. This concert was broadcasted on the National Radio of Sofia. In same 2016, She played Schumann concert with Sant Cugat Symphony Orchestra in Sant Cugat concert hall and La Massa (designed by a Catalan architect who designed New York Central Station) for celebrating 25th anniversary of the orchestra. Also she has played Manuel de Falla’s Cembalo Concert using the very Cembalo which Manuel de Falla used to use when composing, as well as Padre Soler manuscript Quintets with Classic Barcelona.

She has released several recordings like “Franz Schubert” and “España – Amor y Odio”. In 2010, released the solo piano Suite “GOYESCAS – los majos enamorados -” composed by Spanish Composer Enrique Granados which is famous as one of the most difficult piano suites, she has recorded it as a posthumous memorial of her professor Alicia de Larrocha. Also some of her recordings were selected for Documentary “Carlos Barral” soundtrack – broadcasted by both Spanish National TV, TVE and TV3.

As a composer, her composition premiered in Palau de la Música Catalana. Ayako has composed orchestrated pieces with piano and a variety of other instruments for films, advertising and documentaries, incorporating classical and electronic musical techniques. She released her first original album “brightwater” in 2015 which she played by herself. The pieces comprise of solo piano, two piano and a trio of piano, violin and cello, has recorded it entirely in Barcelona, with the invaluable participation of two great musicians: the violinist “Cristian Chivu,” the concertmaster of the OBC (Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de Cataluña), and the cellist “Cristoforo Pestalozzi”, the lead cellist in the Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu.