ARTIST

Mayako Sone (harpsichord)

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Mayako Sone began studying the piano and the violin at the age of five. At the age of sixteen, she enrolled at the Toho Gakuen High School of Music, Tokyo, where she met with harpsichord playing. She took the harpsichord class of Motoko Nabeshima and worked privately with Chiyoko Arita.
In 1983, Sone started her activities as a continuo harpsichordist.
Being given a prize at the International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges (Belgium) in 1986, she continued her studies in France and Italy with Scott Ross. In 1990, she moved her base to Paris.
After Scott Ross died, Sone was recognized as a successor to Ross and was given a big opportunity by Michel Garcin, famous producer at ERATO label in France, to became the first exclusive Japanese artist and made her CD debut from the label in 1991. She recorded Domenico Scarlatti's Unpublished Sonatas, a project undertaken in order to fulfill the wishes of the late great Scott Ross who had released a collection of the complete harpsichord works of Scarlatti.
Since 1992, she has been active in performing across the world. She was invited to become a resident harpsichordist of the Israel Chamber Orchestra, and appeared at many music festivals in France and Italy. She also takes great interest in the search for new artistic horizons, collaborating in a highly acclaimed performance with a contemporary dancer Santiago Sanpere in Tokyo and in Paris.
In Japan, she has given many recitals and chamber music concerts, and has appeared at TV and radio programs. In October 2003, Sone started a series of J. S. Bach concerts at Hamarikyu Asahi Hall in Tokyo, 12 concerts in total that spans 6 years. She also started recording the series on CDs.
In 2006, Radio France made a special radio program featuring Sone. In the same year, she was invited to La Folle Journee (Nante, Lisbon and Tokyo), and La Roque d'Antheron International Piano Festival where she reappeared in 2007. In 2009, she appeared at La Folle Journee (Loire, Nante and Tokyo) again.
Since her debut CD, she has released many CDs on a regular basis from ERATO ("Cinema Clavecin", "BACH: Toccata", etc) and avex-CLASSICS ("Chaconne", "BACH: English Suites", "BACH: French Suites", "BACH: Italian Concerto & Overture in French Style"). The latest record "BACH: Well-Tempered Clavier I" was given the 20th Music Pen Club Award (Best Recording Award), and nominated for the Record Academy Awards in the special category and the category of the best instrumental recording. She was also awarded The 6th Idemitsu Music Award in 1996 as the first harpsichord player and the Hida-Furukawa Music Award (Encouraging Prize) in 1997.
In April 2009, she becomes a professor at Ueno Gakuen University.