ASA MORI  Pianist -  Alexander Technique Teacher

Asa Mori was born in Japan in 1981 and began her piano studies at the age of six. At the age of seven she won first prize at the Kohnan Music Competition and also received first prize at the Japan Piano Teachers Association Audition, becoming the youngest prizewinner in the history of the competition. She subsequently gained numerous awards at national and international competitions, including the Japan Classical Music Competition, the International Music Competition Nagoya and the Prix d’Amadeo Jeunesse. She made her solo debut with the State Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of Kraków.

Asa Mori attended the Toho Gakuen High School of Music in Tokyo, graduating with distinction in 2000 and giving her graduation recital at the renowned Casals Hall in Tokyo. She continued her studies at the Toho Gakuen College of Music before transferring in 2002 to the Cologne University of Music and Dance, where she was admitted to the master class of Pavel Gililov. She graduated with distinction in 2008 and completed her Konzertexamen in 2011. Alongside her formal studies, she deepened her artistic expression through training in the Alexander Technique with Nadia Kevan and Ron Murdock. She also received important artistic inspiration from Halina Czerny-Stefańska and Ferenc Rados.

Asa Mori has given piano and chamber music recitals for the Eurasia Cultural Association and the Villa Musica Foundation of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate, collaborating with artists such as Christian Altenburger, Thomas Demenga and Klaus Thunemann. She was supported by the organisation Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now. In further concerts, she worked with the distinguished Japanese composer Tokuhide Niimi. She has also performed with the solo string players of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, by whom she was invited as a highly regarded chamber musician.

In 2013, she founded the Mori Trio together with violinist Werner von Schnitzler and cellist Aiki Mori. In addition to numerous performances in Germany and abroad, the trio released its debut CD featuring piano trios by Antonín Dvořák in 2018 on the Hänssler label. The recording received critical acclaim from the international press and was broadcast by, among others, the BBC, Radio France, Czech Radio Vltava, Radio Luxembourg 100.7 and Radio Bremen. In the 2019/2020 season, the Mori Trio made its debut performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Folkwang Chamber Orchestra Essen under Johannes Klumpp.

Asa Mori has appeared at festivals including the Ogaki Music Festival in Japan, the Amadeo Festival in the Netherlands and the Klavier-Festival Ruhr in Germany. Several of her concerts have been broadcast on radio, including SWR and WDR.

Her book Alexander Technique for Pianists, published in Japanese by Yamaha Music Media in 2019, has been continuously reprinted since its release and is now also available in a Korean translation.