Born in Tokyo, Japan, Masako Ohta, is a keen exponent of classical and contemporary music, and also of improvisation and composing film scores.

Masako Ohta is the first prize winner of the Giesinger Kulturpreis 2016.
In 2019 she was honoured by the City of Munich with the prestigious Förderpreis für Musik, which is awarded only every two years.

She graduated in the Toho Gakuen School of Music, Tokyo and the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin as a concert pianist and has taken masterclasses with Akira Miyoshi, Sir András Schiff, György Sebök and György Kurtág.

Working with poetry, sounds and music from Japan, Europe and from other cultures constitutes a major field of her interest and Masako Ohta creates intercultural and interdisciplinary projects and concert series.
Masako Ohta’s work has been documented in numerous radio productions and on the CDs "Ohenrosan" and "Botenstoffe" that recorded live-improvisations.

February 2018 has seen the release of her piano solo CD "Poetry Album" for the label Winter & Winter (Winter & Winter N° 910 244-2). This recording, compiling piano pieces spanning a wide range of periods, has met with great critical acclaim and has received fine reviews in the press including Süddeutsche Zeitung, Münchner Feuilleton and Piano News.

Her second Solo album CD "My Japanese Heart“ (Winter & Winter No 910 264-2) for the label Winter & Winter came out in Summer 2020 worldwide and also met with great critical acclaim and was nominated for the German Record Critics’ Award 2020.

In October 2022, the album (CD and vinyl) "Mmmmh" with jazz trumpeter Matthias Lindermayr was released on the Squama label. The album "Mmmmh" was voted Jazz Album of the Month by Bayerischer Rundfunk in November 2022, and was also among the top ten best jazz albums of 2022 on BR-Klassik and nominated for the German Jazz Award 2023.
As a dedicated and certified piano pedagogue she gives lessons and masterclasses for piano and chamber music. She combines her teaching with Japanese calligraphy under the motto "holistic playing on the piano".


Discography:

2014 "Ohenrosan" (Pilgrims of Sound, Germany) with Udo Schindler (clarinet)
2017 "Botenstoffe" (Confront Recordings, UK) with Udo Schindler (clarinet)
2018 "Poetry Album" (Winter & Winter, Germany) solo piano
2019 "Kaiyushikiteien" (Creative Sources, Portugal ) with Udo Schindler (clarinet)
2020 "My Japanese Heart" (Winter & Winter, Germany) solo piano
2020 "Music in Space" (Creative Sources, Portugal ) with Udo Schindler (clarinet)
2022 "Made in Japan" Bandcamp with Udo Schindler (clarinet)
2022 "Mmmmh" (Squama Recordings) with Matthias Lindermayr (trumpet)
2024 "Solo EP" (Squama Recordings)

Masako Ohta - English: Masako Ohta Biography 2023 English.pdf

Masako Ohta Vita - Japanese: Vita Japanese PDF

CD - My Japanese Heart - English: PDF (English-UK)