Naoko Christ-Kato

was born in Yokohama (Japan) and studied piano in Tokyo, Hannover, and Lübeck, where she graduated with the Artistic Concert Exam. She is the Preize Winner of the "Young Artist Piano Contest" and the "Best Players Contest" in Japan and also received the Education Association's award. In 2004 she premiered the piece "Invention & Etude" by the US composer Michael Tenzer (*1957), and in 2009 she recorded Tenzer's work "Let Others Name You". In 2015 she founded the Gernsheim Duo with the soprano Anna Gann. The duo is committed to the discovery and performance of works by forgotten Jewish composers. In 2019, the duo's first CD, "Verborgene Schätze" (Hidden Treasures), was released by GENUIN, Christ-Kato and Gann toured Japan twice, Their concerts received broad coverage in German newspapers and radio, as well as in Japanese newspapers and on the TV station NHK. She maintains a busy concert schedule as a soloist, as a duo partner in song recitals, as a chamber music partner in various formations, and as a participant in collaborative projects with artists from various disciplines. Naoko Christ-Kato is a scholarship recipient of the German Music Council.