Mitsuko Uchida facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mitsuko Uchida
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| 内田光子 | |
Uchida with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, 2016
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| Born | 20 December 1948 Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
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| Occupation | Classical pianist, conductor |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Title | Co-artistic director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival (with Jonathan Biss) |
| Partner(s) | Robert Cooper |
Dame Mitsuko Uchida, DBE (内田光子, [ɯtɕida miꜜtsɯ̥ko]; born 20 December 1948) is a famous classical pianist and conductor. She was born in Japan and later became a British citizen. She is especially known for playing the music of Mozart and Schubert.
Mitsuko Uchida has performed with many top orchestras. She has recorded a wide range of music and won many awards. She is also a co-artistic director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival. She has even conducted several major orchestras herself.
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Life and Music Career
Mitsuko Uchida was born in Atami, a town near Tokyo, Japan. When she was 12, her family moved to Vienna, Austria. Her father became the Japanese ambassador there. She is the youngest of three children.
She started studying music at the Vienna Academy of Music. Her teachers included Richard Hauser, Wilhelm Kempff, and Stefan Askenase. At just 14, she gave her first concert in Vienna. She also studied with Maria Curcio, a student of the famous pianist Artur Schnabel. Mitsuko stayed in Vienna to continue her studies when her father moved back to Japan.
Early Competitions
Mitsuko Uchida entered several important music competitions. In 1968, she won tenth prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition. She played pieces by Beethoven, Debussy, and Gaston Brenta.
In 1969, she won first prize at the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna. The next year, she took second prize at the VIII International Chopin Piano Competition. In 1975, she won second prize at the Leeds Piano Competition.
Famous Performances and Recordings
Mitsuko Uchida is highly praised for playing music by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy, and Schoenberg. She has recorded all of Mozart's piano sonatas. This project won a Gramophone Award in 1989.
She also recorded Mozart's concerti with the English Chamber Orchestra. Her recording of Schoenberg's Piano Concerto won another Gramophone Award. She has also recorded Beethoven's complete piano concerti and his late piano sonatas. Her Schubert piano recordings are also very well-known.
Conducting and Collaborations
In 2009, her recording of Mozart's piano concertos (Nos. 23 and 24) won a Grammy Award. For this recording, she played the solo part and conducted the Cleveland Orchestra. This was the start of a new project to record all of Mozart's piano concertos again. She conducts the Cleveland Orchestra from the piano for these recordings.
From 2002 to 2007, she was an "artist-in-residence" with the Cleveland Orchestra. This means she worked closely with them for several years. She led performances of all Mozart's solo piano concertos. She has also conducted the English Chamber Orchestra while playing the piano.
In 2010, she was an artist-in-residence for the Berlin Philharmonic. She has been involved with the Marlboro Music School and Festival since 1974. She became one of its artistic directors in 1999. Since 2018, she shares this role with pianist Jonathan Biss.
Mitsuko Uchida also helped start the Borletti-Buitoni Trust. This organization helps young artists build their careers. In 2012, she received the Gold Medal from the Royal Philharmonic Society. This is one of the highest honors in classical music.
A music critic from the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper described her 2015 performance with the Cleveland Orchestra. They said she showed a "heartier, more robust version of her art." This means she played with great power and feeling.
In 2022, her recording of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations was nominated for a Grammy. It also won a Gramophone Piano Award.
Honours and Awards
Mitsuko Uchida has received many important awards for her musical achievements:
- 1986: Suntory Music Award
- 1989: Gramophone Award for Best Instrumental Recording (for Mozart's complete Piano Sonatas)
- 2001: Appointed Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). This was an honor from the British Queen.
- 2001: Gramophone Award for Best Concerto Recording (for Schoenberg's piano concerto)
- 2003: Elected an international member of the American Philosophical Society
- 2008: BBC Music Magazine awards for Instrumentalist of the Year and Disc of the Year (Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata)
- 2009: Promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). This is a higher honor, like being knighted, and she received it after becoming a British citizen.
- 2009: Awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree by the University of Oxford
- 2011: Grammy award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra) (for Mozart's Piano Concerti No. 23 and No. 24)
- 2012: Awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal
- 2015: Awarded the Gold Medal of the Foundation of the Mozarteum University of Salzburg
- 2015: Praemium Imperiale, a major international arts award from Japan
- 2017: Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album (as an accompanist with Dorothea Röschmann)
- 2022: Gramophone Classical Music Awards – Piano Category (Beethoven Diabelli Variations)
See also
In Spanish: Mitsuko Uchida para niños
