Riko Higuma, Piano

Biography

A versatile musician, Riko Higuma is a highly sought-after piano collaborator and a sensitive chamber musician, performing with the world’s leading artists throughout the United States, Europe, Russia and Japan.  As a soloist, she was a top-prize winner at the Jacob Flier International Piano Competition and the Santa Fe International Piano Competition.

Ms. Higuma has participated in numerous music festivals around the world, including the Nagano-Aspen Music Festival and the LaJolla Music Society Summerfest in California, where her live solo performance was broadcast on NPR’s Performance Today. Notably, she was one of the Young Artists for the Van Cliburn Piano Institute in Fort Worth, where she appeared with the Fort Worth Symphony under Edward Browne.

Ms.Higuma’s collaborations on the recital and concert stage have included distinguished artists such as Albert Markov, Paul Cohen, Neil Rosenshein, Jeffrey Solow and Aaron Rosand.  She has also collaborated in a chamber music setting with Cho-Liang Lin, Alan Gilbert, Charles Curtis, Steven Tanenbom, Jorge Bosso, Dora Schwarzberg, Timothy Eddy, and Yovan Markovitch, Suren Bagratuni among others.  For the past 5  years, she has been a regular participant of the International Academy of Music in Italy and the Summit Music Festival in New York, where she performed a gala recital  with the legendary violinist Aaron Rosand.

Ms. Higuma also is the pianist of the acclaimed ensemble group, The Zodiac Trio, and has been claiming top prizes at international competitions which include the International Peninsula Young Artist Festival, Yellow Spring Chamber Music Competition, Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation, received the Recording and Commissioning Grants from Coop Press, which resulted in a debut commercial recording on the Emeritus label, FNAPEC Ensemble Competition, and the Cziffra Foundation audition.  Most recently the trio went on a 6-city tour in China and performed in the Festival Radio France in Montpellier which will be broadcast on France 3 television.

Ms.Higuma studied with Phillip Kawin at the ManhattanSchool of Music in New York and chamber music with the Ysaye String Quartet in their Superior Chamber Music Program in Paris.  She is currently engaged as a staff pianist at the Manhattan School of Music.