Pianist Rieko Aizawa is known for her rare combination of technical mastery and musical sensitivity, earning the admiration of musicians and critics alike. While in her teens, Rieko performed at the opening concerts of Tokyo's Casals Hall by the recommendation of Mitsuko Uchida, followed by her US debut at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall with A. Schneider and the New York String Orchestra. Since then she has performed in solo and orchestral engagements throughout the US, Canada and Europe at established concert halls such as Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, Boston, Chicago and Konzerthaus, Vienna. Concerto highlights include the San Francisco Symphony under Schneider, the New Japan Philharmonic with Ozawa, the English Chamber Orchestra with H. Holliger, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra with H. Wolff, the St. Louis Symphony with D. Loebel, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. She has played at some festivals such as Caramoor, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia and the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. She has also collaborated with the Guarneri Quartet, the Shanghai and the Orion Quartets, and the Musicians from Marlboro touring chamber ensembles. In 1996 Rieko received her Masters degree from Juilliard while studying with P. Serkin, and is a graduate of the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where she studied with M. Horzowski, S. Lipkin and P. Serkin, and was awarded the prestigious Rachmaninoff prize. In Japan, for 2003-2006, she has her project titled "Prism" to feature Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann respectively, and to premiere a piece by a Japanese composer to dedicate the respective featured composer. For 2003 Akira Nishimura wrote for her, and was of a great success.