Dr Makiko Hirata

An international pianist and with ten　released albums, Makiko Hirata is “Dr Pianist,” on a mission to promote the power of music to heal and unite us. She collaborates with neuroscientists to quantify the benefit of music and promote music as an overlooked social resource to enhance our individual and social well-being through speaking engagements, workshops and writing. She is a US-Japan Leadership Program Fellow. Dr Pianist has been offering workshops with music on various topics such as wellness and stress-management, team-building, leadership, and diversity/inclusion/equity. She has facilitated workshops for corporate clients, schools, and community groups. The hands-on engagements with music and music-related ideas open the ears and minds of the participants to the possibility of music as an enjoyable tool regardless of their musical backgrounds. Many of her clients look to her workshop when expanding their business internationally, to learn from the “universal language” to improve their communication skills beyond that of cultural and lingual boundaries. Dr Hirata has given recitals, lectures, concerto performances and outreach concerts in the Americas and Eurasia with ensembles and artists, such as the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, the Pecs Hungarian Symphony Orchestra, conductor Leon Fleisher, and clarinettist David Krakauer. She has taught at New York University, Colburn Conservatory of Music, Rice University, and Lone Star College, and given masterclasses and lectures internationally.