Arne: Sonata No.6 in G minor
Mozart: Sonata No.10 in C, K.330/300h
Motoki Hirai: Elegy in memory of Queen Elizabeth II (2022) (World Première)
Motoki Hirai: Scenes from a Native Land (2005)
Albéniz: Córdoba, Op.232, No.4 from Cantos de España
Granados: Andaluza from Danzas Españolas
Moszkowski: Guitarre, Op.45, No.2
Kozaburo Hirai: Fantasy on ‘Sakura-Sakura’ (1971)
Schubert (trans. Motoki Hirai): Am Meer, D.957 No.12 from Schwanengesang
Schubert (trans. Liszt): Serenade, D.957 No.4 from Schwanengesang
Motoki Hirai: Polka ‘La Cinquantaine’ (1986)
Motoki Hirai: Grace and Hope (2011) – Dedicated to the victims and survivors of the 3/11 Earthquake and Tsunami
Motoki Hirai: Recollection No.3 (1991)
Acclaimed worldwide for his imagination and sensitivity, Motoki Hirai has appeared in over 100 countries as concert-pianist, music director and artistic emissary, regularly giving solo recitals in prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall (London), Royal Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Konzerthaus (Vienna) and Carnegie Hall (New York).
Motoki has broadcast internationally on radio and television (Classic FM, BBC, ITV, NHK, etc.) and most recently he collaborated with a former England and Japan rugby head coach Eddie Jones in a documentary film ‘A Decade of Recovery in Fukushima’ (2021).
As a composer, Motoki’s works have been performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall (NY); Southbank Centre, Barbican, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Cadogan Hall, Wigmore Hall, St. John’s Smith Square, Unicorn Theatre, Chelsea Flower Show (London); Brookes Festival (Oxford); Eden Project (Cornwall); Smetana Hall (Prague); Maison de la culture du Japon (Paris); Expo Milano (Milan); Auditori Pau Casals (Barcelona); Cameri Theatre (Tel Aviv); Théâtre National Daniel Sorano (Dakar); Hugo Lambrechts Auditorium (Cape Town); as well as La Folle Journée, Tokyo Opera City, and NHK Hall (Japan).
Born in Tokyo into a highly gifted musical family, Motoki came to London in 1996 to study at the Royal Academy of Music, after reading philosophy at Keio University in Japan. Since 1991, Motoki has collaborated with internationally renowned orchestras and artists including Czech Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Golden Jubilee Orchestra, English National Ballet, Vilnius String Quartet, Michael Cox, Kalman Berkes, John Pearce, Doudou N’Diaye Rose and his cellist father Takeichiro Hirai (a celebrated disciple of Pablo Casals).
Over the years, Motoki Hirai has performed for the promotion of World Peace and for Children and People in need worldwide in association with organizations such as British Red Cross, Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, Japan Society, Motor Neurone Disease Association, Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, Tohoku Earthquake Fukushima Orphans Fund, UNESCO and UNICEF. Since the Earthquake and Tsunami devastated Tohoku, Japan on 11 March 2011 (which, by a sad coincidence, was his birthday), Motoki has organized over 50 charity concerts across UK, Europe, US as well as the most affected areas in Japan.
As an artistic emissary of the Japanese government, Motoki has visited numerous countries across the globe since 1994. He is an Ambassador (Yume-Taishi) of Hirono Town in Fukushima and Goodwill Ambassador of Reviving Old Imari (porcelain) Project at Loosdorf Castle in Austria.
“a most brilliant and sensitive musical talent” The Guardian