Ayako Uehara (上原彩子), born on July 30, 1980, in Takamatsu, Japan, is a classical pianist and musical educator who began her musical education at the Yamaha Music School at age three. In 1995, she made her concert debut in Tokyo with the National Symphony Orchestra under Mstislav Rostropovich, performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.1. She has also been recognized with awards including first prize at the International Competition for Young Pianists in Ettlingen, Germany, in 1992, and second prize at the Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia in 2000. She gained international recognition in 2002 when she became the first woman and Japanese citizen to win the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. She released the album of Rachmaninoff's Prelude Op.32 in 2014. She has served as an associate professor of piano at the University of Tokyo.
