The vibrant pianist Akiko Sasaki’s dynamic performances and detailed instruction have anchored her a prospering position as a concert pianist and music educator in the New York City area. Praised as, “impressively sensitive and interactive,” (City Arts New York), Sasaki has appeared throughout Europe and the United States as soloist and chamber artist. 

As a performing artist, Sasaki has collaborated with prominent artists from around the world, including artists from the Metropolitan Opera, Harlem Quartet, Marlboro, and the Grammy winning Pacifica Quartet. She is a former member of the Sasaki-Schoen-Rene Duo, Akiko Duo, and the Heaton Sasaki Duo.  Sasaki has appeared in New York City venues such as Merkin Concert Hall, Steinway Hall, WQXR’s Greene Space, Roulette, Tenri Cultural Institute, as well as a solo recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. Sasaki has won numerous awards including the Notes at Nine Thousand Emerging Artist Competition, Lamont Concerto Competition, and the Artist International Competition. Other distinguished accomplishments include winning the Allied Arts Music Award, the Bernstein Crossman Piano Award, the New York City Distinguished Artist Award presented by Mu Phi Epsilon, a selected participant for Frederic Chiu’s Deeper Piano Studies, and winner of the Bettylou Scandling Hubin Award for World Music.

Ms. Sasaki is an active and notable music educator.  She is a former faculty member of the Kauffman Center’s Lucy Moses School, New York City’s public school for musically gifted children.  Currently, she is on piano faculty at State University of New York at New Paltz and she maintains her own studio, Forte>Piano Studio in Beacon, New York.

Sasaki is the founder, faculty member, and Artistic Director of the Lyra Music Festival and Young Artist Program.  She is also Co-Founder of Musical Explorers, and Performing Pianists of New York.

Sasaki received her Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from the University of Denver.  Her success in Colorado led her to study abroad as a scholarship student at the Guildhall School of Music in London.  There she worked with one of England’s foremost pedagogues, Benjamin Kaplan.  She continued her studies at the Manhattan School of Music, earning a Master's degree in Piano Performance.  Sasaki’s former instructors include Alice Rybak, Jeffrey Cohen, Jose Mendez, Miyoko Lotto, and Julian Martin.

In addition to Ms. Sasaki’s career as a pianist and music educator, she also curates and presents high-calibre artists in various concert series.  She is the founder and Artistic Director of the Lyra Music Festival and Music Director of the Howland Chamber Music Circle.

Ms. Sasaki is also an accomplished kotoist (Japanese zither), having performed at The Rubin Museum, Chelsea Museum, Rutgers University, Stony Brook University, The Stone, New York’s Japan Society, and many Japanese festivals and international cultural events throughout the New England area.   She is a former member of the Miyabi Ensemble and has appeared in concerts with Masayo Ishigure, one of the leading koto masters in the United States.