Rieko Makita, piano

Rieko Makita is a Japanese-Australian pianist undertaking her Master of Performance as a Noswad Charity Award Holder at the Royal College of Music London, under the tutelage of Sofya Gulyak and Dinara Klinton. Rieko is currently the piano fellow for the Philharmonia MMSF Instrumental Fellowship Programme 2021/2022 and an ambassador for the Benedetti Foundation 2022.

Rieko has performed across Australia, Japan, Italy, Germany, and Austria. She has played in major venues, including the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall and the City Recital Hall in Angel Place. Most notably, she collaborated with the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany, playing Piano Concerto No 1 in E minor by Frédéric Chopin in 2019.

Rieko completed her Bachelor of Music (Performance) with First-Class Honours at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2019, having studied under Clemens Leske. Rieko was a recipient of the Busby Musical Scholarship and Henderson Travellers Scholarship which enabled her to study with Andrea Lucchesini at Mozarteum Salzburg Summer Academy (2018), with Grigory Gruzman at the Franz Liszt Weimar Masterclasses (2019), and with Jacques Rouvier and Marie-Josèphe Jude at the International Nice Summer Academy (2019).

Rieko is a versatile collaborative pianist, who has performed chamber music with members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in Australia and Southbank Sinfonia in London. In 2018, Rieko performed with Ensemble Muse, an all-female contemporary music ensemble based in Sydney, and their performance was broadcasted on Fine Music FM 102.5. She is also an experienced orchestral pianist, playing as part of Sydney Conservatorium of Music Wind Symphony Orchestra and RCM Symphony Orchestra, and undertaking training with the Philharmonia Orchestra. As part of the Celestine Trio, Rieko is currently preparing for concert with fellow RCM colleagues for March this year in Chiswick, St. Nicholas Church.

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