Etsuko Hirose

Born in Nagoya,[1] Hirose started playing the piano at the age of three.

She then joined the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse (CNSM) with Bruno Rigutto and Nicholas Angelich as professors[3] In 1997, she won first prize in the Martha Argerich competition, which marked the beginning of her solo career.

[4] In 2000, she was given an honorable mention at the XIV International Chopin Piano Competition.

She later perfected her skills with Marie-Françoise Bucquet and Jorge Chaminé, and more recently, with Alfred Brendel.

[5] She regularly plays at the La Folle Journée in Nantes at the beginning of each year, an event she considers a "must-attend" one.