Noriko Ogawa

Noriko Ogawa has achieved considerable renown throughout the world since her success at the 1987 Leeds International Piano Competition.

Noriko’s “ravishingly poetic playing” (Telegraph) sets her apart from her contemporaries and acclaim for her complete Debussy series with BIS Records, confirms her as a fine Debussy specialist, and her Images Book I and II were chosen as the top recommendation ‘exquisite delicacy’ by Stephen Walsh, BBC Radio 3’s CD Review, January 2014.

Noriko Ogawa appears with all the major European, Japanese and US orchestras. She made her BBC Proms debut in 2013 and appeared again in 2014 with the Endymion Ensemble. She has recorded Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, and Harald Sæverud's Piano Concerto with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.

As a recitalist and chamber musician, with her piano duet partner Kathryn Stott, she has performed Malcolm Arnold’s Concerto for Two Pianos at the 2013 BBC Proms.

As an advocate of commissioning, Noriko Ogawa has been involved in numerous premieres including works by Richard Dubugnon, Takemitsu, Graham Fitkin and Dai Fujikura, as well as ‘Le Tombeau de Rachmaninov’, specially written for her by eight composers and premiered at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall.

Noriko Ogawa is a sought-after presenter on radio and television, recently appearing as a piano expert on the BBC3 coverage of the Leeds Piano Competition, and on BBC Worldwide in ‘Visionaries’ as an advocate for Takemitsu. She regularly judges the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition, Munich International Piano Competition, Honens International Piano Competition and the Scottish International Piano Competition. She has been appointed as Chairperson of the Jury for Japan’s prestigious 10th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in 2018.

In Japan, Ogawa acts as artistic advisor to the MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall in her hometown. In 1999, the Japanese Ministry of Education awarded her their Art Prize in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the cultural profile of Japan throughout the world and she has been awarded the Okura Prize for her outstanding contribution to music in Japan.

Noriko Ogawa is passionate about charity work, particularly after the earthquake and tsunami, which devastated Japan in 2011. Since then, she has raised over £40,000 for the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Fund. Noriko also founded Jamie’s Concerts a series for autistic children and parents and is a Cultural Ambassador for the National Autistic Society.

Ogawa is a professor at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.