Described as “dazzling” and “scintillating,” (Classical Source) and lauded for her “beautiful singing lines” and performances filled with “drama and energy” (Joan Tower), pianist Emiko Edwards continues to captivate audiences with her sincere musical interpretations and wide variety of tonal color. Edwards’s international performing career has taken her across North America, Europe, and Asia, where she has had the pleasure of appearing in such prized concert venues as Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall), Merkin Concert Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Milton Court Concert Hall (London), and Universidad de Laboral (Spain). A champion of modern music and composers of our day, Edwards holds a number of BBC credits to her name. Her performances of works by Henryk Gorecki and Richard Rodney Bennett have received international acclaim and have all been recorded for and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Additional highlights include the Philadelphia premier of the Joan Tower Piano Concerto (Homage to Beethoven), her Lincoln Center debut performing all-Copland, "One has rarely heard a pianist bring out so many of the nuances latent in Copland's piano music...[an] exceptional meeting between composer and musician," (New York Classical Review), and the American premiere of “June” by Karen Lefrak at the David H. Koch Theater in collaboration with members of the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater. A staunch advocate for American piano music, Edwards’s upcoming engagements include an invitation to appear on WRTI's "Steinway Week" (Four Piano Blues, Aaron Copland) and her Chicago recital debut presented by American Music Project. Equally at home with both modern and standard repertoire, Edwards's concerto engagements include those with the Guildhall Brass Ensemble, Cambridge Graduate Orchestra, Bravura Philharmonic, Temple University Symphony, Manalapan Battleground, New Sussex Symphony, and Westfield Symphony orchestras.
In addition to airtime in the UK and US, footage of Edwards’s performances and interviews have been broadcast on television throughout the United States. She is featured in two documentaries, On a Personal Note and "Piano Forte": The Julia Crane International Piano Competition, both of which have aired nationally on PBS. She has won numerous awards at both the national and international level, winning first prize at age eleven in the 18th International Young Artist Competition (Washington, D.C.), before subsequently taking prizes at The New York International Piano Competition, France Music Competition, Bachauer Scholarship Competition, Princeton Festival Piano Competition, Cape Vincent International Piano Competition, Julia Crane International Piano Competition, 5 Towns Music & Art Foundation Competition, and the Music Teacher’s National Association Competitions. She has been the recipient of numerous grants and scholarships (Linklaters, James Gibb, Banff Centre, Orford Arts Centre, Nelly Ben-Or Trust) for which she is eternally grateful and has been chosen to appear in public masterclasses with world-renown artists and pedagogues such as Steven Kovacevich, Marc Durand, Robert McDonald, Andre Michel Schub, Joseph Kalichstein, Jerome Lowenthal, Robert Levin, Nelly Ben-Or MBE, John Perry, and Jacques Rouvier. Edwards was awarded her degrees from The Juilliard School (BM), Guildhall School of Music and Drama (MPerf, Artist Diploma), and Temple University (DMA), where she had the pleasure of studying with Julian Martin, Ronan O’Hora, Sara Davis Buechner, and Lambert Orkis. Currently, she teaches piano performance and chamber music at Saint Joseph’s University and heads the piano department at Luzerne Music Center’s Junior Session. A passionate educator both in the classroom and on the concert stage, Edwards can be found discussing her work as a performer and teacher on the classical music podcast Orchestrating Your Career, Episode #5 “Figuring Out Your Purpose as an Artist,” with host Rebekah Carpio (Spotify, Amazon Music).
