英語

Born in Togane City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. She began piano lessons at the age of three with her parents and, at ten, studied under Susumu Nagai. At twelve she won First Prize nationally in the Elementary School Division of the All Japan Student Music Competition, receiving the Minister of Education Award. At fifteen she won First Prize at the 22nd Japan Music Competition. She performed Weber’s Konzertstück with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hitoshi Ueda at Hibiya Public Hall and gave her domestic debut recital at Yamaha Hall, Tokyo.

In 1956, while still a high school student, she passed the government scholarship examination for overseas study. After giving a farewell recital at Kyōritsu Hall, she entered the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien), studying under Prof. Grete Hinterhofer. While enrolled she received the Gastein Prize and graduated first in her class in 1959. The following year she gave her debut recital at the Brahms-Saal of the Wiener Musikverein to enthusiastic critical acclaim from twelve publications (she also gave recitals and chamber concerts at the same hall in 1966 and 1972). In 1961 she was awarded Second Prize (First Prize not awarded) at the Geneva International Music Competition (Concours International d’Exécution Musicale de Genève).

Since then she has frequently appeared as a soloist with orchestras in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein and the Wiener Konzerthaus and has given recitals at major venues throughout Europe, South America and Asia. In chamber music she has performed with the New Vienna Octet, the Vienna Octet, the Vienna Chamber Ensemble, the Brussels String Quartet, the Steude String Quartet, and with soloists including Pierre Fournier (cello), Ivan Gavriš (cello), Gerhard Pichler (violin), and Kenichiro Tokunaga (cello). In addition to concert appearances she has frequently broadcast on radio and actively introduced contemporary Japanese works abroad.

She has performed under distinguished conductors including Alain Quaduory, Heinz Wallberg, Lovro von Matačić, Zdeněk Košler, Erich Mertzdorfer, Berislav Klobučar, Rudolf Heger, Otto Matzelart, Günter Wand, Joseph Rosenstock, Raymond Leppard, Karl Ötty, Karl Esterreicher, Takashi Asahina, Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Tadashi Mori, Kazuo Yamada, Hiroyuki Iwaki, Seiji Ozawa, Kenichiro Kobayashi, Yuzo Toyama and Akio Watanabe, with orchestras such as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Graz Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, Gunma Symphony Orchestra, Chiba Symphony Orchestra (formerly New Philharmonic Chiba), Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra and Kyushu Symphony Orchestra. Through subscription concerts, special performances and tours she has established an international reputation as a pianist.

She has served on juries for the International Beethoven Piano Competition Vienna (1989, 1993, 2001), the Japan Music Competition, the Mozart Competition and others, while also appearing on NHK and commercial radio and television programs (“Meikyoku Album,” “Piano no Okeiko,” “Television Recital,” “Sekai no Ongaku,” “Ongaku no Hiroba,” “Daimei no Nai Ongaku-kai,” etc.). She has released numerous recordings, CDs, books and scores, and given public masterclasses, lectures and served as a faculty member at music festivals throughout Japan, nurturing the next generation of pianists.

In 1992 she was dispatched by the Japan Foundation as a Music and Cultural Envoy with violinist Atsuko Tenma to Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria. In 1998 she was invited by the Japan Cultural Institute in Cologne to perform there and in Vienna. In September 2008 she gave concerts in Düsseldorf and Zagreb (Croatia). In Japan she has given annual recitals at major venues including Tokyo Bunka Kaikan; her 2017 recital was repeatedly broadcast on NHK-BS Premium and NHK-FM through 2020.

In 2018 she celebrated the 65th anniversary of her debut with concerts in Tokyo and Vienna. In 2019 and 2020 she was selected by critic Ryuichi Shibata for “Best Concert of the Year” in Ongaku no Tomo magazine for two consecutive years. In 2023 she presented her 70th debut anniversary concert in Tokyo. Her CDs include Ryoko Fukazawa and Friends in Chamber Music Vols. 1 & 2 (Nami Records, with Kumiko Etoh, violin, and Kenichiro Yasuda, cello, 2007/2009); An die Musik – Songs of the City (Art Union, 2011, with Harutsugu Oinuma, viola; A. Skočić, cello; Yoko Fujii, clarinet); Schubertiade Again (with Shizuka Nakamura, violin/viola); Fantasie (piano solo, 2015, Art Union, Special Selection by Record Geijutsu); Winterreise (with Mari Adachi, viola, 2018); Mozart Violin Sonatas (with Shoko Segawa, violin, 2019, Semi-Special Selection by Record Geijutsu); and Beloved Piano Pieces released in August 2024, recommended in the October 2024 issue of Record Geijutsu Online.

Her honors include the 1963 Osaka Prefectural Theater Encouragement Award, the 1995 Chiba Prefecture Cultural Merit Award and the 2005 Togane City Special Service Award. She was named one of the “100 Most Outstanding Musicians” by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, U.K. She serves as Representative Director of the Japan Council of Music and Dance, Director of the Japan–Austria Society, Director of the Franz Schubert Society, and Director of the International Development and Relief Foundation.