Naoko Sugiyama

Naoko Sugiyama, a native of Japan, is active as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Japan and New England. She has appeared with the Boston Chamber Music Society, Bargemusic in New York, the Chestnut Hill Concerts in Connecticut, and worked with world-renowned musicians such as Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, and Jacques Zoon. She has been heard at Carnegie Hall (New York), Jordan Hall (Boston), Goethe Institute (Boston), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), and on WGBH-FM Boston. 

Ms. Sugiyama started studying piano at age four. Her talent was already recognized in her younger age. She won several prizes in the All Japan Students’ Music Competition which is the most prestigious national piano competition for young pianists in Japan. After she graduated from Hyogo Prefectural Nishinomiya High School’s Music program, she earned her Bachelor of Music Degree from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (Tokyo Geidai) which is the top university for Music in Japan. In 1997, Ms. Sugiyama moved to Boston to study at Longy School of Music. During her studies at Longy, she won the Honors Competition and the Longy Orchestra Soloists Competition. After she earned a Graduate Performance Diploma from Longy, she studied at New England Conservatory. She was the winner of the New England Conservatory of Music Honors Auditions and also chosen to be a soloist of the New England Conservatory Commencement Orchestra. Her election to Pi Kappa Lambda reflects an intense dedication to academics and piano performance. Ms. Sugiyama holds a Master of Music Degree and Graduate Diploma with Distinctions in Piano Performance from New England Conservatory. She has studied with Randall Hodgkinson, Martin Canin, Mieko Harimoto and Ayako Kanazawa.

Ms. Sugiyama was a 2005 prize winner in the Krenek Competition of the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition (formerly the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition). In 2007, she performed the world premiere of “Lullaby” by the eminent American composer Ned Rorem at the Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York. She participated in the Bowdoin International Music Festival as a student in 1998 and served as a member of the faculty between 2001-2008. She has been giving a solo piano recital annually and actively working as a collaborative pianist. She has become the resident pianist with the North Shore (Boston) Chamber Music ensemble, Music at Eden’s Edge since 2010. She was an adjunct faculty member at the Boston Arts Academy and was a piano faculty at Longy School of music. She is currently teaching at her private studio and New England Conservatory Preparatory School.