Mai YAMADA

Born in Tokyo, Mai Yamada graduated from the Toho Gakuen School of Music and completed her studies at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris. She has won numerous awards, including First Prize at the All Japan Piano Audition and honors at the Claude Kahn Competition in France.

With a focus on the works of Jean-Michel Damase, she actively promotes music by French and British composers, frequently presenting Japanese premieres of their pieces. In 2017, she released her debut album, “On the 90th Anniversary of Damase's Birth” (Sonare), earning praise from “Record Geijutsu” for her ‘precise and delicate technique and sensitivity’.

In 2023, she established her own label, Mollis Records, and released her second album, “Damase: Piano Works”, which was named Critic’s Choice by “Record Geijutsu” and “The Asahi Shimbun”, and featured in “The Tokyo Shimbun” and “The Chunichi Shimbun”. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of Damase's passing in 2023, she organized a concert series performing his complete solo piano works, collaborating with piano enthusiasts. Her activities extend to giving solo recitals in Japan and abroad, performing piano duos, participating in chamber music (ensembles), collaborating with an orchestra (as a soloist), and composing (original works).