Akiko Konishi received her early musical training in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, and completed her undergraduate studies at Rice University as a double major in music and English. She continued her graduate studies at Yale University and the University of Houston, under the guidance of renowned pianists Peter Frankl and Abbey Simon. She has appeared as soloist with the Shepherd School Symphony (Rice University), Oakland Symphony, Rio Hondo Symphony (California), Symphony North Houston, D’Angelo Young Artist Competition Orchestra, and the Chicago Federation of Musicians Orchestra, and performs extensively in guest artist venues across the United States. As an active chamber musician, she has performed with members of the Houston Symphony in the Channing Chamber Series, and recently toured Italy and Bulgaria as a winner of the Mercadante International Chamber Music Competition. Her performances have been broadcast on Houston Public Radio’s “The Front Row,” and Italian National TV (RAI). 

Additional honors include finalist prizes in the Ima Hogg Houston Symphony Concerto Competition and the F. Awerbuch International Piano Competition (New York), as well as grand prizes in the Entergy Young Texas Artist Competition and the Rio Hondo Symphony Concerto Competition (Los Angeles). She received the Jury Discretionary Award at the Texas Steinway Society’s Career Development Award Competition, which resulted in performances at both Steinway Halls in Fort Worth and New York City. 

During the past seasons, she has appeared in a guest artist recital at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and in repeat performances with the Chicago Federation of Musicians Orchestra (Rachmaninoff 2nd, Grieg, and Schumann Concertos). Other recent engagements include guest artist recitals in St. Benedict’s Cathedral (Chicago), a collaboration at the jazz venue Hey Nonny Live, and a concerto performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Triton Jazz Ensemble. 

Prior to her appointment at Washington and Lee University, Dr. Konishi taught applied piano and core music courses at Triton College in River Grove, IL. As a devoted pedagogue, she also taught precollegiate students through her private studio in Chicago. Her students have won numerous awards, most recently in the Young Steinway Concert Series (Skokie), Beethoven with a View Festival (Chicago), American Protégé International Competition (New York), and Roberta Savler Memorial Contest (Chicago). Since 2013, she has been on the faculty of the Chautauqua Institution, a summer music program for advanced collegiate students in New York. She resides in Lexington with her husband, Steve, and their dog Shiner.