Rieko Makita

Based in London, Rieko Makita develops a career as a pianist and composer across Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom — three anchors that run directly through her work. Born in a Japanese-Australian context, she writes music situated at the crossroads of classical, jazz and ambient, with particular attention to migration, memory and belonging. Trained at the Royal College of Music, where she earned a Master of Performance with Distinction and an Artist Diploma of Performance, Rieko Makita was also named Constant & Kit Lambert Fellow in 2023–2024, after a stint as Piano Fellow of the Philharmonia Orchestra in 2021–2022. Her activity alternates between recitals, commissions/creations and stage projects blending sound, image and immersive narration. Rieko Makita has performed notably at the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Albert Hall, Sinfonia Smith Square, and has also appeared on BBC Radio 3. In 2025 she conceived and presented Immersive Night Music Show as part of the Wandsworth Arts Fringe, a multimedia format that extends her research between composition and live performance. In 2026 the PRS Foundation Open Fund awarded her funding for the recording of her first EP, Where is Home?, a project linked to her life experience across several countries and to this piano writing that is lyrical, atmospheric and highly structured.