Biography
Japanese violist Yuko Hara, born in New York, now lives in Europe, where she pursues an international career as a chamber musician.
A graduate of Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai), she studied at the Geneva University of Music with Nobuko Imai before joining Rainer Schmidt’s string quartet class at the Basel Academy of Music and participating in two orchestral academies—the Philharmonia Zurich and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Yuko Hara has won several international awards, including the 9th Lionel Tertis Viola Competition (UK), the Baseler Orchestergesellschaft Competition (CH), the 5th Tokyo Music Competition, the Osaka International String Quartet Competition, and two prizes awarded by the Matsuo and Aoyama Foundations (JP).
Her musical world today spans historically informed performance on period viola and viola d’amore, contemporary music, electronic music, improvisation, and collaborations with visual arts. She is a member of several ensembles: the Quatuor Ardeo in Paris, franz ensemble, and Pulse in Bremen, Germany. Their recordings have received critical acclaim—the latest album by Quatuor Ardeo, XIII, was praised as “Supersonic” by Pizzicato and awarded “Choc” by Classica, among other accolades. The franz ensemble won the prestigious Opus Klassik Award for its debut CD in 2020. She regularly performs at international festivals such as La Folle Journée, La Roque-d’Anthéron, Colmar (FR), Davos, Morat, Müstair (CH), Schwetzingen, Bremen, Mecklenburg, Rottweil, Kissingen, Heidelberg, Schleswig-Holstein (DE), Aldeburgh (UK), and West Cork (IE).
Since 2017, she has been the artistic director of the Hirondelle Festival, whose mission is to curate chamber music programs featuring works from different eras and styles, bringing audiences and musicians together for a unique musical experience in the timeless setting of the Auvergne region.
