Welcome to MOTOKI HIRAI Official Website

What's New!!

Piano Recitals
31 March - 15 April 2025
Concert Tour (Spain and Portugal)

Concert Tour / Piano Solo / Outreach / Education / Research
Feb 2025
Piano Recitals (South America, etc.)

Media / Fukushima / Ambassador / Music for Children
Tue. 8 Oct 2024
Fukushima Minpo Newspaper - An article on his visiting Hirono Town in Fukushima as an Ambassador ('Yume-Taishi') to the town and his educational activities with local children. (Fukushima, Japan)

READ ARTICLE >>

Concert / Education / Research / Cultural Exchange
November 2024
European Tour (Italy, Spain, Portugal, etc.)

Concert / Workshop / Education / Reserch / Cultural Exchange
Sep 2024
Asian Tour (Vietnam, Japan, Turkey, and UK)

Concert Tour / Piano Solo / Education / Outreach / Research
17 July - 4 Aug 2024
Piano Recitals (Canada, US)

Music Festival / Concert / Solo / Chamber Music / Compositions / Talk / Holst 150 / UK-Japan Friendship Tour 2024
Fri. 3 May 2024
Concert with Madeline Mitchell (violin) at La Folle Journee Tokyo 2024

Concert / Masterclass / Music for Children / Holst 150 / UK-Japan Friendship Tour 2024
Thu. 2 May 2024
Duo recital at British School in Tokyo, supported by British Council

2024 Noto Earthquake Charity / Solo & Duo / Compositions / 150th Anniversary of Holst's Birth / UK-Japan Friendship Tour 2024
Tue. 30 April 2024 - 7pm
Duo Recital with Madeline Mitchell (violin) at Kitaku Cultural Centre (Niigata City, Japan)

MORE INFO >>
BOOK NOW >>

Concert / Chamber Music / Solo / Compositions / 150th Anniversary of Holst's Birth / UK-Japan Friendship Tour 2024
Mon. 29 April 2024 - 6pm 【SOLD OUT】
Duo Recital with Madeline Mitchell (violin) at Garba Hall (Shinjuku, Japan)

MORE INFO >>
BOOK NOW >>

Concert / Tea Ceremony / Solo & Duo / Composition / Cultural Exchange / UK-Japan Friendship Tour 2024
Fri. 26 April 2024 【Private Event】
Garden Concert with Madeline Mitchell (violin) and UK-Japan Friendship Tea Ceremony with Soen Hayami VIII (Grand Tea Master) and Hosai Matsubayashi XVI (Asahiyaki kiln) at Hakusasonso Garden and Hashimoto Kansetsu Museum (Kyoto, Japan), supported by British Council, Royal College of Music, Hakusasonso Garden and Hashimoto Kansetsu Museum, NTT West, MHD Moet Hennessy Diageo, AJaPPa, etc.

Concert / Masterclass / Solo & Duo / Composition / Cultural Exchange / UK-Japan Friendship Tour 2024
Thu. 25 April 2024
Duo Recital and Chamber Music Masterclass with Madeline Mitchell at Kyoto City University of Arts (Kyoto, Japan), supported by British Council, Royal College of Music, Kyoto City University, Hakusasonso Garden and Hashimoto Kansetsu Museum, NTT West, etc.

Concert / Charity Dinner / Noto Earthquake Charity / UK-Japan Friendship Tour 2024
Mon. 22 April 2024 (private event) 【SOLD OUT】
In Aid of Rebuilding Children's Education after 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake

Duo Concert & Charity Dinner with a British violinist Madeline Mitchell at Steinway Hall (Aoyama, Tokyo), supported by British Council, Steinway & Sons, Royal College of Music, Holst Society, Delius Society and others.

Concert / Chamber Music / 150th Anniversary of Holst's Birth / UK-Japan Friendship Tour 2024
Sat. 13 April 2024
Duo Recital with Madeline Mitchell (violin) at Tincleton Gallery (Dorset, UK)

MORE INFO >>
BOOK NOW >>

Concert / Chamber Music /150th Anniversary of Holst's Birth / UK-Japan Friendship Tour 2024
Fri. 12 April 2024
Duo Recital with Madeline Mitchell (violin) at Tincleton Gallery (Dorset, UK)

MORE INFO >>
BOOK NOW >>

Media / Column / 2024 Noto Earthquake Charity Concert / UK-Japan Friendship Tour 2024
Wed. 10 April 2024
Niigata Nippo Newspaper (Japan)

Media / Review / Piano Solo
March 2024
Concert Review on Musical Opinion (UK)

Piano Concert / Workshop / Music for Children / Outreach / Senegal-Japan Goodwill
Mon, 12 Feb. 2024 - 11:00 & 12:00
Two Workshops and Two Concerts for children (Age: 3-18) at a local school in Dakar (Senegal)

Concert / Senegal-Japan Goodwill
Sun, 11 Feb. 2024 - 14:30 & 16:30 (Private Event)
Two Piano Recitals at Japanese Ambassador's residence in Dakar (Senegal)

Concert Tour / Piano / Masterclass / Outreach / Music for Children
24 Jan - 13 Feb 2024
Piano Recitals (South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, etc.)

Media / Review / Lecture Recital
19 Jan 2024
Review - Jiji Press News Bulletin (London)

Lecture Recital / Piano / Composition
18 Jan 2024
Jiji Press Top Seminar

Lecture Recital at Royal College of Music (Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall) as a composer-pianist (South Kensington, London)

Media / Article
Tue, 26 Dec. 2023
Fukushima Minpo Newspaper (Japan)

Media / Column
November 2023
'Hatoh' Poetry Magazine (Japan)

Concert Tour / Piano Solo
27 Oct - 8 Nov 2023
Piano Recitals (Norway)

Lecture / Guest Speaker
Tue. 13 June 2023
Motoki will give a talk on 'Spreading the Power of Music' for a group of CEOs from the Japanese Chamber of Co & Industry in the UK. (Drapers' Hall, LONDON)

Concert Tour / Piano Solo
June 2023
Piano Recitals (Denmark, Greenland and Iceland)

Concert Tour / Piano Solo
26 March - 6 April 2023
Piano Recitals (Iceland and Norway)

Media / Article
Tue, 14 March 2023
Fukushima Minpo Newspaper (Japan)

Piano Recital / UK-Japan Friendship Charity / British Heart Foundation / 311 Tsunami Charity
Sat. 11 March 2023 - 19:00 【SOLD OUT】
50th Birthday Piano Recital at St John's Smith Square (Westminster, LONDON)

UK-Japan Friendship in Aid of British Heart Foundation and Hirono Town in Fukushima

Supported by the Embassy of Japan

Sponsored by NIKKEI EUROPE LTD, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Mitsubishi Estate London LTD, Norinchukin Bank, NTT Ltd, Steinway & Sons, etc.

Special thanks to: Fukushima Prefectural Association in UK, JCCI, JR Central, etc.

British Heart Foundation ❤️ >>
FLYER & INFO >>
BOOK TICKETS >>

Media / Article
Mon, 6 March 2023
Fukushima Minpo Newspaper (Japan)

Media / Article
Fri, 17 Feb. 2023
Fukushima Minyu Newspaper (Japan)

Media / Article
Thu, 16 Feb. 2023
Fukushima Minpo Newspaper (Japan)

Dream Ambassodor Inauguration / Fukushima
Wed, 15 Feb. 2023
Motoki officially becoming a Dream Ambassador (Yume-Taishi) of Hirono Town in Fukushima (Japan)

Concert Tour / Piano Solo
27 September - 12 October 2022
Piano Recitals (Italy, Portugal and Spain)

Concert Tour / Piano Solo / Outreach / Mauritius-Japan Friendship / Cultural Exchange
2 Sep 2022
Visiting a local high school performing and sharing music with children (Mauritius)

Concert Tour / Media / TV Interview
1 Sep 2022
TV Interview for News Documentary - MBC 1 (Mauritius)

Concert Tour / Media
Sep 2022
'NEWSTYLE' (Fashion Magazine in Mauritius)

Concert Tour / Piano Solo / Artistic Emissary / Mauritius-Japan Friendship / Cultural Exchange
31 Aug 2022
Piano concert at Caudan Arts Cenrtre (Mauritius)

The first half of the programme will focus on Japanese and Mauritian cultures, introducing songs by Kozaburo Hirai; folklore, picture book, Kirie (paper cutout), etc.

Motoki will also perform his own compositions including 'Scenes from a Native Land' (2005) and the world premiere of his new commissioned work ‘Haiku on Mauritius’ (2022), inspired by Mauritian poet Anita Bacha’s Haiku anthology ‘Pink Moon’ (2022); as well as works by J.S.Bach, Mozart, Schumann, Chopin and Liszt in the second half.

Reading: Shiv Santosha Saddul (Actor) Music and Piano: Motoki Hirai (Artistic Director & Composer) Choir: Mauritius Island Voices Choir (Director: Katrin Cain)

Picture Book: 'A Cat who Lived a Million Times' (1977) by Yoko Sano (story & pictures)

Haiku (Anthology): 'Pink Moon' by Anita Bacha

Kirie: Shu Kubo (paper cutout artist)

MORE INFO >>
FLYER >>

Concert Tour / Piano Solo / Artistic Emissary / Mauritius-Japan Friendship / Cultural Exchange
29 Aug 2022
Piano recital at Japanese Ambassador's Residence (Mauritius)

MORE INFO >>
FLYER >>

Concert Tour / Piano Solo / Artistic Emissary / Mauritius-Japan Friendship / Cultural Exchange
27 Aug 2022
Piano recital at Sugar Beach Resort (Mauritius)

MORE INFOE >>
FLYER >>

Concert Tour / Piano Solo / Artistic Emissary / Mauritius-Japan Friendship / Cultural Exchange
25 Aug 2022
Piano recital at State House (Mauritius)

MORE INFOE >>
FLYER >>

Concert Tour / Piano Solo / Artistic Emissary / Mauritius-Japan Friendship / Cultural Exchange
23 Aug - 3 Sept 2022
Piano recitals, concerts, cultural events and an educational outreach as an artistic emissary of Japanese Government (Mauritius)

MORE INFOE >>

Concert Tour / Piano Solo
3-10 July 2022
Piano Recitals (Norway)

Exhibition / ROIP / Goodwill Ambassador / World Peace
Fri. 28 May - Mon. 18 July 2022
The special exhibition 'The Destruction and Rebirth of Exported Old-Imari “The Tragedy of Loosdorf Castle” (Kyushu Ceramic Museum), organized by the members of ROIP (Reviving Old Imari Project at Loosdorf Castle, Austria), in which Motoki has been involved as Goodwill Ambassador.

About EXHIBITION >>
About PROJECT >>
VIDEO >>

Concert Tour / Piano Solo
14-29 April 2022
Piano Recitals (Italy, Spain and France)

Concert Tour / Piano Solo
4-16 March 2022
Piano Recitals (Portugal, Spain)

Media / Column
December 2021
‘KidsFam’ (December Issue)

Media / TV / Interview
Thurs. 25 November 2021
TV Interview - ’QE Good Morning’ (Gibraltar)

Concert Tour / Piano Solo
15-28 November 2021
3 Piano Recitals as a guest artist on Qunard's Queen Elizabeth (Portugal, Spain and Gibraltar)

Exhibition / ROIP / Goodwill Ambassador / World Peace
Fri. 10 September - Tue. 23 November 2021
The special exhibition 'The Destruction and Rebirth of Exported Old-Imari “The Tragedy of Loosdorf Castle” ' (Hagi Uragami Museum, Yamaguchi), organized by the members of ROIP (Reviving Old Imari Project at Loosdorf Castle, Austria), in which Motoki has been involved as a Goodwill Ambassador and adviser.

About EXHIBITION >>
About PROJECT >>
VIDEO >>

Concert Tour / Piano Solo / Chamber Music / Masterclass
July - October 2021
Concerts and Workshops (England, Scotland and Northern Ireland)

Media / Column
Fri. 16 July 2021
As an official columnist Motoki contributed an article to 'Forbes Japan'

READ COLUMN >>

Media / Book Review
June 2021
‘KidsFam’ (June Issue) - Book review on the biography of Masayo Kidani MBE

Exhibition / ROIP / Goodwill Ambassador / World Peace
Sat. 10 April - Sun. 13 June 2021
The special exhibition 'The Destruction and Rebirth of Exported Old-Imari “The Tragedy of Loosdorf Castle” ' (Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Aichi), organized by the members of ROIP (Reviving Old Imari Project at Loosdorf Castle, Austria), in which Motoki has been involved as a Goodwill Ambassador and adviser.

About EXHIBITION >>
About PROJECT >>
VIDEO >>

Concert Tour / Piano Solo / Chamber Music / Masterclass
April 2021 (CANCELLED due to Covid-19)
Concert Tour (Germany, France, etc.)

Fukushima Tsunami Charity / 10 Years On / Documentary / Cultural Ambassador
Thursday, 11 Mar. 2021
‘A Decade of Recovery in Fukushima’ (2011-2021)

As a composer, pianist, and cultural ambassador (‘Yume-Taishi’) of Hirono Town in Fukushima, Motoki will be joining the online memorial event, organized by Yoshio Mitsuyama (Fukushima Prefectural Association in UK). Motoki is also featuring in a documentary film ‘A Decade of Recovery in Fukushima’, collaborating with Rie Yoshitake and Eddie Jones (former Japan’s/current England’s head coach of national rugby team) amongst others as well as people and children in Fukushima, supported by organizations including Fukushima Prefecture, Hirono Town and Embassy of Japan in the UK.

ABOUT >>

Exhibition / ROIP / Goodwill Ambassador / World Peace
Sat. 20 February - Sun. 21 March 2021
The special exhibition 'The Destruction and Rebirth of Exported Old-Imari “The Tragedy of Loosdorf Castle” ' (Okura Museum of Art, Tokyo), organized by the members of ROIP (Reviving Old Imari Project at Loosdorf Castle, Austria), in which Motoki has been involved as a Goodwill Ambassador and adviser.

FLYER >>
MORE INFO >>
About PROJECT >>

Media / TV Interview / Covid-19
Friday, 12 Feb. 2021
TV Interview - ’Prime Online TODAY’(BS Fuji)

Media / Interview / Covid-19
Friday, 12 Feb. 2021
Interviews - ‘FNN Prime Online’, ‘Yahoo! News’, etc.

Lecture / Guest Speaker / Zoom
Wed. 11 November 2020 - 1 pm
Motoki will talk on 'Spreading the Power of Music' for students at University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland.

MORE INFO >> FLYER >>

Exhibition / ROIP / Goodwill Ambassador / World Peace
Tue. 3 Nov. 2020 - Sun. 24 Jan. 2021
The special exhibition 'The Destruction and Rebirth of Exported Old-Imari “The Tragedy of Loosdorf Castle” ' (Okura Museum of Art, Tokyo), organized by the members of ROIP (Reviving Old Imari Project at Loosdorf Castle, Austria), in which Motoki has been involved as a consultant and Goodwill Ambassador.

FLYER >>
MORE INFO >>
ABOUT ‘ROIP’ >>

Concert Tour / Piano Solo / Chamber Music / Masterclass
9-22 Oct 2020 (CANCELLED due to Covid-19)
Concert Tour (Japan, Korea, etc.)

Media / YouTube / ROIP / Composition / Piano
September 2020
Motoki's composition and performance, recorded live at London's Wigmore Hall, is featured on the official movie of ROIP (Reviving Old Imari Project at Loosdorf Castle, Austria)

WATCH VIDEO >>

Media / Column
Sun. 9 August 2020
As an official columnist Motoki contributed an article to 'Forbes Japan'

READ COLUMN >>

Media / Column
Sat. 25 July 2020
As an official columnist Motoki contributed an article to 'Forbes Japan'

READ COLUMN >>

Zoom Talk / Guest Speaker
Thur. 2 July 2020 - 20:00 (JST)
Zoom interview with Shinya Yamamoto, CEO of HR Fabula talking on 'Diversity & Inclusion', 'Culture & Communication', etc. The livestream will take place on Facebook LIVE at 8 PM (JST).

FLYER >>

Media / Article
July 2020
Essay on ‘ACT4’ Opera and Travel Magazine (June/July Issue)

PHOTO >>

Media
Thu. 11 June 2020
Motoki started a serial photo essay on 'Design Stories', a web-based literary magazine edited by award-winning author Jinsei (Hitonari) Tsuji.

READ PHOTO ESSAY >>

Concert Tour
7 - 22 June 2020 (CANCELLED)
Concert Tour (Russia, Latvia, Sweden, etc.)

Media / Review
June 2020
CD review on ’Hatoh’ Tanka Poetry Magazine (June Issue)

READ REVIEW >>

Media / Column / Photo Essay
Sat. 30 May 2020
As an official columnist Motoki started contributing regular articles to 'Forbes Japan'

READ COLUMN >>

Online Music Workshop / Guest Speaker / Zoom Concert
Wed. 20 May 2020
Online Music Workshop and Concert for Children who are asked to stay at home due to COVID-19.

INFO >>

Zoom Talk / Guest Speaker
Sat. 9 May 2020
Zoom interview with Michelin-starred French chef Keisuke Matsushima, who was awarded the prestigious Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) in France.

WATCH VIDEO >>

Media / Interview
May 2020
'Ongaku no Tomo' Music Magazine

Concert Tour / Solo ＆ Duo / UK in Japan 2019-20
22 April - 10 May 2020 (CANCELLED)
Japan tour with a British violinist Madeleine Mitchell as part of 'UK in Japan 2019-20' (Tokyo, Kyoto, etc.)

Media / Guest Speaker / YouTube
Tue. 21 April 2020
Zoom Interview on YouTube channel 'Spremuta Milano'

WATCH VIDEO >>

Media / Zoom Talk
18 April 2020 - 18pm (Japan time)
Conversations with pro footballers Tadanari Lee and Takahiro Ogihara, and a Michelin-starred chef Keisuke Matsushima in a public talk show