Fujiko Hemming

Fujiko Hemming – born Ingrid Fujiko von Georgii-Hemming on December 5, 1932, in Berlin, Germany - is a Swedish-Japanese pianist born to a Swedish father and Japanese mother. Relocating to Japan with her family, she began to study the piano under her mother at a young age before studying with Leonid Kreutzer beginning at the age of 10. Identified as a child prodigy, she performed live on the radio when she was in the third grade. In 1953, she made her debut public performance at the age of 17. After graduating from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, she won two prestigious Japanese competitions: the NHK-Mainichi Music Contest and the Bunka Radio Broadcasting Company Music Prize. At the age of 28, she moved to Berlin, Germany and studied at the Berlin Institute of Music before relocating to Vienna, Austria to continue her studies under Paul Badura-Skoda. She became a popular performer, sharing stages with artists such as conductors Leonard Bernstein and Bruno Maderna and pianists Nikita Bagaloff and Shura Cherkassky. In 1971, while suffering from a high fever during a performance in Vienna, she lost her hearing. Stepping away from her career for several years, she underwent treatment in Stockholm, Sweden, she slowly began to return to performing live recitals around the world. A 1999 documentary on her life and career brought her back into the spotlight, leading to a recital at Carnegie Hall in New York in June 2001. Fujiko Hemming released her album, La Campanella (1999), which featured “La Campanella (Grandes Etudes de Paganini S. 141-3).” The album sold over two million copies and earned her the award for Classical Album of the Year from the Japan Gold Disc Awards. She followed that release with critically acclaimed albums such as Chopin Recital (2004), Echoes of Eternity (2009), Live at Carnegie Hall (2009) and Nocturnes of Melancholy (2009).

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