Studied under Kazuko Yasukawa and Pierre Barbizet. Graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts High School and Faculty of Music, and completed her Master’s degree at the same university in 1975. In 1976, she graduated at the top of her class from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Marseille. Her 1980 debut recital was highly praised by Masahiro Oki in the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. In 1983, she re-enrolled in the doctoral program at Tokyo University of the Arts. In 1989, she received her PhD for her dissertation, “Debussy and the Aesthetics of the Fin de Siècle.” In 1990, she received the Agency for Cultural Affairs Arts Festival Award for “Cruel Tenderness,” a collection of works by Toru Takemitsu, Akio Yashiro, and Yoshio Hachimura.
She is attracting attention as a rare individual who balances performance and writing, and has published 35 books and released 26 CDs. Of these, 21 CDs have been selected as recommended recordings by the magazine *Record Geijutsu*. Furthermore, she received the 9th Yoshida Hidekazu Prize for her biography of her teacher, Kazuko Yasukawa, *Tsubasa no Haeta Yubi* (Hakusuisha U Books), the 49th Japan Essayist Club Prize for her biography of her grandfather, *Aoyagi Mizuho no Shogai* (Heibonsha Library), the 25th Kodansha Essay Prize for *6-Hippon no Goldberg* (Iwanami Shoten), and the 23rd Music Pen Club Music Award for her CD *Romantic Debussy* (Camerata).
From 1989 to 2000, she held the *Debussy Series*. In 2008, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Debussy’s death, she held a four-part concert series, *Debussy Series Revisited*. Her seventh CD, *Debussy no Moments / Estampes & Etudes* (Camerata), was nominated for the 2008 Japan Record Academy Award. In the same year, she performed on one of the oldest upright pianos discovered at Takinogawa Gakuen, Japan’s first facility for people with intellectual disabilities. Her CD album, “Angel’s Piano” (Camerata), which featured readings introducing the achievements of the piano’s former owner, Fumiko Ishii, was selected as a recommended album by Record Geijutsu magazine.
In September 2009, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth, she held “Edgar Allan Poe in Music: On Debussy’s ‘The Fall of the House of Usher'” at the Hamarikyu Asahi Hall, and performed the same concert in Paris in November.
From May to June 2010, she appeared at the Chopin Festival organized by the Japan Chopin Society. In September, she held “Motoo Otaguro and ‘Friends of Music and Literature'” at the Hamarikyu Asahi Hall. In October, her first novel, “The Gaze of Water” (Bungei Shunju), was published.
In July 2011, Chikuma Shobo published “Glenn Gould: The Pianist of the Future.” In September, she invited Christophe Giovaninetti, professor at the Paris Conservatoire, to perform duo concerts in Tokyo and other locations.
In May 2012, she performed duo concerts with Christophe Giovaninetti at the Kobe Shimbun Matsukata Hall and other venues throughout the Kansai region. In September, she held a series of concerts commemorating the 150th anniversary of Debussy’s birth, “Debussy and the Literary Cabaret ‘Les Cats’ and Their Companions,” at the Hamarikyu Asahi Hall, which was met with great acclaim. In the same month, she simultaneously published the CD album “The Mysteries of Debussy” (Camerata) and the essay collection “A Walk with Debussy” (Chuokoron Shinsha), which garnered attention in newspapers and magazines.
In May 2013, she performed at the “La Folle Journée Music Festival” (and continued to perform there annually until 2019). In September, she held two consecutive nights of concerts in Tokyo to commemorate the release of her duo album with Christophe Giovaninetti, “Minstrel” (Continuo Classics). In the same month, she published “Henri Barda: The Mysterious Pianist” (Hakusuisha).
From 2014 to 2017, she held a series of five “Countdown Concerts” leading up to the 100th anniversary of Debussy’s death. Her published books include “The Pianists’ Celebration” (Chuokoron-Shinsha) in May 2014, “How Far Does Debussy Go?” (Iwanami Shoten) in October 2014, “Izumiko Aoyagi’s MERDE! Diary” (Tokyo Sogensha) in March 2015, and “Decoding the Chopin Competition: The Pinnacle Stage” (Chuko Shinsho) in September 2016. With the cooperation of composer and pianist Yuji Takahashi, he released two CDs: “Motoo Otaguro’s Piano” (Kojima Recording) in 2016 and “The Rite of Spring/Petrushka” (Art Resonance) in 2017.
In March 2018, he held the “Debussy Centennial Memorial Concert: The Day Before His Death” at the Hamarikyu Asahi Hall. In April, he published the supervised album “Debussy’s Tomb” (Art Resonance) and the solo album “Debussy’s Dreams” (Kojima Recording). In July, he published the CD book “Toy Box” (Gakken Plus). In September, he published “Yuji Takahashi: A Monster” (Kawade Shobo Shinsha). In October, he published “The Secrets of Debussy’s Piano Music” (ONTOMO MOOK) with a DVD, and in December, he published “Debussy’s Last Year” (Chuokoron Shinsha).
In January 2019, a concert performance of Debussy’s unfinished opera “The Fall of the House of Usher,” based on Edgar Allan Poe, was held at Hakuju Hall. In November, “Debussy and the Poets of Paris” was held at Daikanyama Hillside Plaza as part of the Sarugaku Festival. In the same month, a collection of dialogues with young musicians, “Living Through Music!” (Artes Publishing), was published.
In January 2020, a 40th anniversary recital was held at Hamarikyu Asahi Hall, with performances both day and night. In February, with the cooperation of Yuji Takahashi, the album “The Birth of the Six-Person Group!” (Kojima Recording), featuring piano duets and solos, was released. In November, the essay collection “Drinking Big Sake Around Asagaya” (Heibonsha) was published. In December, with the cooperation of pianist Yui Morishita and conductor Tsuyoshi Tabei, the CD “La Mer” (Ottava Records), featuring six hands on two pianos, was released.
In February 2021, with the cooperation of Yuji Takahashi, she released “Monogatari” (Kojima Recording), a duet, solo, and recitation album. In December, she simultaneously published the book “Listening to Flowers, Reading Flowers” (Getsuyosha) and the CD “Stories of Flowers, Music of Flowers” (ALM).
In September 2022, she published “The Charm of Vintage Pianists” (Artes Publishing), and in October, “Chopin Competition Chronicles” (Shueisha Shinsho). In October, she released the CD “Old Songs” (ALM). In 2023, she released the albums “Schubert’s Letters” (ALM) and “Scenes with Masks: Works by F. Couperin” (TKI) with Yuji Takahashi, and the album “Caprice” (ALM) with Natsumi Nishimoto.
In 2024, she released the album “Schubert at 19” (ALM) with Christophe Giovaninetti. He published “Paris Music Salons: From the Belle Époque to the Roaring Twenties” (Iwanami Shinsho).
In 2025, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Satie’s death, he will publish the book “Debussy and Satie: Which Was the Pioneer?” (Shunjusha) and the CD “Songs That Make You Run Away: A Selection of Satie’s Works for Solo and Duet” (ALM).
In October 2026, he plans to publish a book on the Chopin Competition from Shueisha Shinsho. He is a director of the Japan Federation of Musicians and the Japan Chopin Society, and an honorary professor at Osaka College of Music. He is also the artistic director of Yabu City, Hyogo Prefecture. HP: https://ondine-i.net
