Akiko Ono launched her international career after winning multiple prestigious competitions, including first prizes at the Yehudi Menuhin, Viotti-Valsesia, and Forval Scholarship Stradivarius Japan Competitions. She was also a laureate of the Concours Reine Elisabeth, Paganini, and Szigeti Competitions.

She made her debut with Yehudi Menuhin and the Essen Philharmonic at the UNICEF Gala Concert in Germany in 1998. That same year, she was invited by Vanessa Redgrave, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, to perform at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, marking the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Since then, Akiko has appeared as a soloist with leading orchestras including the Weimar Staatskapelle, Belgian National Orchestra, Lille National Orchestra, London Mozart Players, London Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Teatro di San Carlo, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Costa Rica National Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Polish Radio Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, and Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. She has worked with distinguished conductors such as Hans Drewanz, George Alexander Albrecht, Shlomo Mintz, Saulius Sondeckis, James Judd, Paul Watkins, Matthias Bamert, Christopher Warren-Green, Gilbert Varga, Chosei Komatsu, Christian Arming, and Yutaka Sado.

Her performances have taken her across Europe, the United States, Central America, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East, in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Konzerthaus Vienna, Tokyo Festival Hall, Tokyo Metropolitan Hall, and Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels.

Alongside her international solo and chamber work, Akiko is a passionate educator and advocate for outreach. She has collaborated with the Red Cross, UNICEF, and the Japan Foundation for Regional Art-Activities, and regularly works on youth and community projects. Every summer, she performs and coaches chamber music with Yutaka Sado's Super Kids Orchestra in Japan. Since 2006, she has been a course leader at the Maiastra Chamber Music programme, and in 2016 she founded MusicSpace, a violin summer course in collaboration with Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge. In 2022, she launched a chamber music workshop and concert series for young people in her hometown of Tokyo.

Akiko began her studies in the UK at the Yehudi Menuhin School at the age of 12, later continuing with Dora Schwarzberg and Michael Frischenschlager at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. She is currently Professor of Violin at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Yehudi Menuhin School.

(Photo by operaomnia.co.uk)