Rieko Makita is a Japanese-Australian pianist currently undertaking her Master of Performance as the Noswad Charity Award Holder at the Royal College of Music London, under the tutelage of Sofya Gulyak and Dinara Klinton. Rieko is currently the piano fellow for the Philharmonia MMSF Instrumental Fellowship Programme 2021/2022 and she was the Bliss Trust Scholar at the RCM in 2020. Rieko is an active performer in various countries including Australia, Japan, Italy and Austria. Most notably, she collaborated with the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany, playing Piano Concerto No 1 in E minor by Frédéric Chopin in 2019. She performed in the grand Ridotto of Teatro Comunale in Italy as part of the 2016 Ferrara International Piano Festival, and in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall and the City Recital Hall in Angel Place Sydney.

 

Rieko completed her Bachelor of Music (Performance) with First-Class Honours at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2019. Rieko was a recipient of the Busby Musical Scholarship and Henderson Travellers Scholarship which enabled her to study with Andrea Lucchesini at Mozarteum Salzburg Summer Academy (2018), with Grigory Gruzman at the Franz Liszt Weimar Masterclasses (2019), and with Jacques Rouvier and Marie-Josèphe Jude at the International Nice Summer Academy (2019).

 

As a versatile collaborative musician, she has performed as part of Sydney-based modern music ensemble, Ensemble Muse, which was broadcasted on Fine Music FM 102.5. Rieko is also passionate about sharing music with the community; holding the position of in-house pianist for the Queens Club Ltd, The Sydney Sofitel Wentworth Hotel and The Grace Hotel in Sydney, as well as performing for the Wyvern Music Club. Rieko has collaborated with members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as well as the Southbank Sinfonia in London.

 

This year, she will be performing solo and chamber music in concerts throughout the UK, working closely with the DEBUT Horizon Project & students from the Royal College of Music, London.

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