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The Japanese accordionist, Mie Miki, started playing the instrument at the age of 4. At the age of 8, she made her first radio broadcast for NHK in Tokyo. At the age of 16, she moved to Germany to study the accordion at the Städtische Musikschule Trossingen (Trossingen Academy of Music); and piano at Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover (1974-1981). At the age of 25, she started to teach at the Hochschule für Musik Ruhr/Duisburg in Germany. She won the 1st prize of the junior division at the International Accordion Competition in Klingenthal, Germany and the 1st prize at the International Accordion Competition in Annecy, France.
After her studied, Mie Miki soon started her active performing career in Europe. In 1981, 1985 and 1986, she was invited to introduce the classical accordion for the first time in the People’s Republic of China. In 1989, for the first time ever as an accordionist, she was awarded the Förderungspreis des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen for young artists in Germany. As a soloist, she has appeared with numerous renowned orchestras, including the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, NHK Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and National Orchestra of Belgium, under such conductors as Charles Dutoit, Hiroyuki Iwaki, Seiji Ozawa, Yutaka Sado, Hiroshi Wakasugi, and Mario Venzago.
Hailed as a “Queen of the Classical Accordion”, Mie Miki is regarded as the foremost Japanese accordion player of today. At her instigation more than 60 solo and chamber works for accordion have come into being, by such composers as Yuji Takahashi, Toshio Hosokawa, Adriana Hölszky, Hans-Joachim Hespos, Nicolaus A. Huber, Hikaru Hayashi, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Maki Ishii, Takashi Yoshimatsu, Sven-Ingo Koch, Atsuhiko Gondai, Misato Mochizuki, Frank Zabel, Makoto Nomura and Diego Ramos. Her own concert series ‘Mie Miki Accordion Works’, including numerous world premiere performances, has taken place regularly in Tokyo since 1988. In April 2014 this series was awarded the Music Pen Club Award. Her uniquely composed program with her wide range repertoire from Baroque to Contemporary attracts the audiences from different walks.
Mie Miki appears on more than 26 CD's by major labels such as BIS, Philips, Sony, Denon, Vanguard Classics, Camerata Tokyo and King International. For BIS she has recorded an acclaimed selection of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces, as well as S’il vous plaît, with favourite encores, named CD of the Week on BBC Radio 3’s Essential Classics. Her CD "Mie Miki Accordion J.S. Bach" received in 1997 the RecordAcademy Award in Japan.
From 1996, Mie Miki was Honorary Professor at the Folkwang Hochschule, Duisburg. Since October 2003, she is Professor of Accordion and Vice-President for artistic excellence at the Folkwang Universität der Künste Essen. She is also Honorary Professor at the Xinjian Arts College in China. As an educator she has taught not only a number of musicians who have won international competitions but also professors and lecturers at colleges of music all over the world. She is married to Georg Friedrich Schenck and currently lives in Landgraaf, Germany. |
