Born in Tokyo, Keiko Toyama studied her piano lessons with Prof. S. Inoue in her infancy. When Alfred Cortot visited Japan she had a fortunate encounter with the Maestro, who invited her to France to study at l’Ecole Normale Supérieure de Musique de Paris, where she acquired a Licence d’enseigement and a Licence de concert as well.
Since her debut in 1963 she had been on concert tours mainly in Europe and America, performing with the Orchestral National de Paris (Charles Münch), the Orchestral National de Lyon, the Salzburg Camerata (Sándor Végh), the Vienna String Quartet and many world famous artists like Carlo Zecchi, Maurice Gendron among others. In Japan also she had given many recitals, concerts and chamber music performances.
She enjoyed a high reputation in her country for her Debussy and Mozart chamber music series. In 1978 she was awarded the Society of Chopin Prize.
She has distinction of being one of the few personal disciples of Alfred Cortot who regarded her as a “prix-fruit” among his coterie of artists.
She made many recordings for Camerata. She had on the faculty of the Kusatsu International Summer Music Academy & Festival since its start, and devoted her enthusiasm especially to chamber music.
She passed away in March 29, 2021. |
