Skip to content
"Dr. Pianist" Makiko Hirata DMA
"Dr. Pianist" Makiko Hirata DMA
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Discography
  • Biography
  • Repertoire for Piano and Orchestra
  • In Japanese
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Instagram

Book Review: The Death Class: A True Story About Life

Reading / Makiko Hirata

2020-3 The Death Class: A True Story About Life by Erika Hayasaki (2014) Simon and Schuster. I love libraries. Lately, I have been spending more time there, looking through the shelves to see what works in the cover, title, subjects…what sells a book to a reader? And then, to lots of readers? Although I was […]

Book Review: The Death Class: A True Story About Life Read More »

The Producer of Our Album “Visions Take Flight” Wins a Grammy Award!

Recording / Makiko Hirata

“Visions Take Flight” is a debut album by River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, lovingly known in Houston as ROCO. I have been a member of ROCO since 2014, and participated in the recording of this album. It’s very uniquely ROCO in that all five pieces on the album were commissioned by ROCO, and chosen to be

The Producer of Our Album “Visions Take Flight” Wins a Grammy Award! Read More »

Can I Afford to Publish my Book?

2 Comments / Writing a book / Makiko Hirata

The working title of my book is “Why Piano Now?: How it Hurts, and How it Heals.” Loosely based on my dissertation, “To See Music in Your Mind’s Eye: The Genesis of Memorization as a Piano Performance Practice” (2017), the book sheds light on some of the dark side of the history of Western classical

Can I Afford to Publish my Book? Read More »

How to Think about Success

Life of a Pianist / Makiko Hirata

It’s important to celebrate success. It builds confidence. It makes your job even more fun. And it makes you look forward to the next, and beyond. And success can teach you things, too. We tend to look to mistakes and failures for lessons, but we should be able to draw as much, if not more,

How to Think about Success Read More »

Performing at the NAMM show

Business of music / Makiko Hirata

The NAMM show is an annual event held at the Anaheim Convention Center. NAMM stands for National Association of Musical Merchants. According to Wikipedia, it’s ”the world’s largest trade-only event for the music products, pro audio and event tech industry.” And according to NAMM’s own website, this year it hosted “more than 115,000 registrants from

Performing at the NAMM show Read More »

← Previous 1 … 32 33 34 … 50 Next →

Recent Posts

  • Music and “Ma”(間)
  • The Intro to my Memoir
  • Music in the Age of AI
  • The Future of Education
  • On the 80th Summer

Popular Blogs

  • Life of a Pianist
    The Awesomeness of “Goldberg” Variations: as Seen in Films
  • Book Review: “Friedl Sensei and Children of Terezin: 4,000 Drawings Left Behind in a Camp” (2011)  by Michiko Nomura.
    Reading
    Book Review: “Friedl Sensei and Children of Terezin: 4,000 Drawings Left Behind in a Camp” (2011) by Michiko Nomura.
  • Upcoming Recital Program! “Piano Waterscapes”
    Life of a Pianist
    Introducing “Piano Waterscapes,” a Recital Program.
  • Reading
    Book Review: The Soloist
  • Healing Power of Music, Life of a Pianist, Musical Activism, On-Call Musical Doctor: Music Heals
    Pianovan Adventure①:Planning
September 2026
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930  
« Jun    

Archives

Copyright © 2026 "Dr. Pianist" Makiko Hirata DMA | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme