Aiko Onishi

Aiko Onishi was born in Tokyo, Japan. She started learning the piano from her mother, Teiko, an accomplished pianist and a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music. She later studied with Mr. Motinari Iguchi and Miss Aiko Iguchi, his sister.

Upon winning a Japan National Competition, she was invited to study at the Eastman School of Music with Madame Cecile Genhart, who gave her a real foundation as a pianist. After earning the B.M. with Distinction, Performer's Certificate, and Artist's diploma, she continued to study with Frank Mannheimer; with whom she coached on and off for the next sixteen years. During the winter of 1964-5, she had the great privilege of studying with Dame Myra Hess in London.

Aiko Onishi has concertized and given lectures in over 60 cities in the United States, and has played in all the major cities in Japan. She was a professor for six years at the Toho School of Music in Japan and for twenty-one years at San Jose State University in California. As a teacher, Miss Onishi has produced many outstanding students, some of whom have won prizes at international competitions--including Leeds, Busoni, Casadesus, Kapell, Chopin, Munich, University of Maryland, and the Washington International Competition.