Mariko Anraku

MSM faculty member harpist Mariko Anraku—“a manifestation of grace and elegance” (Jerusalem Post)—has enchanted audiences through numerous appearances as soloist as well as chamber and orchestral musician. The New York Times has hailed her as a “masterful artist of intelligence and wit.” Since 1995, she has held the position of Associate Principal Harpist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Since her debut as soloist with the Toronto Symphony led by Sir Andrew Davis, Ms. Anraku has appeared with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra, and Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, among others. As a recitalist, she has performed in major concert halls on three continents, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Concert Hall in New York, Jordan Hall in Boston, Bing Theater at the L.A. County Museum, Opera Comique in Paris, the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, and the Casals, Kioi, and Oji halls in Tokyo.

Ms. Anraku’s impressive list of awards includes first prize at the 1st Nippon Harp Competition; first prize, the Channel Classics Recording Prize, and the ITT Corporation Prize at the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York; and the Pro Musicis Foundation International Award. She was also awarded third prize and the Pearl Chertok Prize for the best performance of the required Israeli composition at the 11th International Harp Contest in Israel.

Ms. Anraku’s strong commitment to contemporary music and the expansion of the boundaries of the harp repertoire has included an invitation to premiere works by Toshio Hosokawa at the Donaueschingen Musiktage in Germany, the Wien Modern in Austria, and festivals in Tubinger and Cologne, Germany, collaborating with traditional Japanese musicians and monks. Ms. Anraku also gave the U.S. premiere of Jean-Michel Damase’s Concerto, Ballade, with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra at the American Harp Society Conference. She has also collaborated in a Tribute to Takemitsu performance at Merkin Concert Hall in New York.

An active chamber musician, Ms. Anraku has performed at the Spoleto, Tanglewood, Newport, and Bridgehampton chamber music festivals in the U.S.A., the Banff Centre and the Festival of Sound in Canada, the Spoleto Festival in Italy, and the Karuizawa and Takefu music festivals, among others, in Japan. She has also performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Harvard Music Association, and Columbia University, and has collaborated with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman and flutists Emmanuel Pahud, Carol Wincenc, Paula Robison, Emily Beynon, Michael Parloff, Marina Piccinini, Stefan Ragnar Hoskuldsson, and Denis Bouriakov.

Ms. Anraku has recorded exclusively for EMI Classics, including three solo recordings and Beau Soir, a collaboration with flutist Emmanuel Pahud. Music for Harp, a compilation from her solo CDs, is also available.

Ms. Anraku has been a member of the Pacific Music Festival (PMF) faculty since 2011. She often serves as a jury member at competitions, most recently at the 20th International Harp Contest in Israel.

Mariko Anraku holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School and is a recipient of an Artist’s Diploma from the Glenn Gould School in Toronto. Her teachers have included Judy Loman, Nancy Allen, Lanalee deKant, and her aunt Kumiko Inoue. Ms. Anrakualso studied Oriental Art History at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. She enjoys playing community service concerts at hospitals, drug rehabilitation centers, prisons, and other venues.