Asako Ueda
In 2019, she established herself not only as an ensemble player but also as a prominent soloist, giving solo recitals on theorbo at the Luitdag of the Dutch Lute Society, and on Renaissance lute at the Dag van het Kasteel.
She studied Medieval and Renaissance music with Dr. Marc Lewon at Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, supported by the Prins Bernhard Cultuur scholarship. Prior to this, she focused on lute studies at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, under the guidance of Mike Fentross and Joachim Held. She successfully earned her Bachelor’s degree with honors (10/10) and was awarded the Excellence Scholarship from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, enabling her to pursue a Master’s degree, which she completed with a distinction. Additionally, she received the Video Presentation Prize for her Master's thesis.
She started taking elementary music lessons from the age of four. Her first instrument was the violin, which she started when she was five years old. After finishing her Bachelor’s degree in violin in Tokyo, she continued at the same college to study Baroque violin and composition.
Biography
The Japanese lutenist Asako Ueda is based in the Netherlands, pursuing her passion for early music performance, especially chamber music from the 15th to 17th centuries. She won first prize at the Biagio Marini Competition (Germany), third prize at the International Van Wassenaer Competition (the Netherlands), second prize at London International Festival of Music (UK), and she was a laureate as a finalist in Maurizio Pratola Lute solo competition (Italy). She has played at several music festivals, among which the Utrecht Early Music Festival (2020, 2024 and season 2021, season 2025), LausPolyphoniae (2021 and 2023 as one of selected IYAP ensembles), Wonderfeel (2019), Bach Academie Brugge (2019), and York Early Music Festival (2024, as the finalist of the competition). She constantly collaborates with The Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century (NL), B'Rock (BE), Música d'Outrora (UK), Elisabeth Hetherington (NL), El Gran Teatro del Mundo (ES), Basler Geigenbande (CH), and Amsteredam Sinfonietta (NL). She is a co-founder of Sponte Sua (duo with Pablo Sosa, traverso) and Duo Minoriten (duo with Minori Deguchi, baroque violin).
In 2019, she established herself not only as an ensemble player but also as a prominent soloist, giving solo recitals on theorbo at the Luitdag of the Dutch Lute Society, and on Renaissance lute at the Dag van het Kasteel.
She studied Medieval and Renaissance music with Dr. Marc Lewon at Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, supported by the Prins Bernhard Cultuur scholarship. Prior to this, she focused on lute studies at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, under the guidance of Mike Fentross and Joachim Held. She successfully earned her Bachelor’s degree with honors (10/10) and was awarded the Excellence Scholarship from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, enabling her to pursue a Master’s degree, which she completed with a distinction. Additionally, she received the Video Presentation Prize for her Master's thesis.
She started taking elementary music lessons from the age of four. Her first instrument was the violin, which she started when she was five years old. After finishing her Bachelor’s degree in violin in Tokyo, she continued at the same college to study Baroque violin and composition.
Share this
Watch
▶