Onodera Ayano

Ayano Onodera is a Japanese singer and pianist, coming from Morioka in North East Japan. She grew up in this area full of forests and rivers which left a big impression on her and would influence her a lot later.

At the tender age of four, she started to learn to play the piano. Classical music was a part of her daily life, and she liked many composers like Chopin and Mozart, but next to that she was also interested in film music. In 1996 she was in Tokyo and encouraged by the famous guitarist and composer Hiroki Miyano to start a career as a chanson singer. With some musicians she started a small group, but soon after she decided to start a solo career instead.

Various jazz musicians helped her with her solo career and she performed regularly in several clubs in Tokyo. She also participated in the Summer festival Miyagase and concerts held in the Honganji Temple in Tsukiji, Tokyo.

Ayano founded UtoUto Music, her own production company, in 2003. She also opened a branch for her label within France. Soon thereafter, she released two albums on it: Mizu no Hibiki and a year later, Kibou. Over the next two years, Ayano performed multiple times in France, with her first on May 6th, 2006.

It was not until 2007 that Ayano returned to Japan. She played a series of shows through the spring before the release of her album Kokoro kara - En toute intimité in May. She continued to play steadily through the fall of that year straight into 2008, and did not return to Paris until February 2009, when she performed for the first time in two years at Sunset-Sunside. The trip to Europe did not remain long however, and by March, Ayano was back in Japan, performing at Mandala and Oumi Gakudou in the summer.

Shortly after her final performance in Tokyo, Ayano returned to France. She updated her website in February 2010, apologizing for the lack of live performances, but has not announced any new recording plans or concerts in the meantime.

Although no activities have been planned for this year so far, fans can hope that Ayano will once again grace the stage, either in Japan or overseas.