Born in Osaka, Akiko Ebi started her international career with winning the second prize at Marguerite Long Competition in 1975. She studied at Tokyo Univeristy of Fine Arts, won in her first year of studies the 41st Music Competition of Japan und continued her studies at the Conservatiore de Paris in class of Aldo Ciccolini. After winning the 5th prize at the International Chopin Piano Competition in 1980 Martha Argerich became her mentor.
Akiko Ebi performs with worldwide leading orchestras including the Orchestra of the 18th Century, Orchestra Philharmonique de Radio France, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Monte Carlo Philharmonic and Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra under the batons of Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Frans Brüggen, Marek Janowski und Lawrence Foster.
Invited regularly to international music festivals, she has toured throughout Europe, North and South America, Russia, Japan, China –32 countries in all.
Her duo concert with Martha Argerich was broadcast on television worldwide. She played in chamber concerts with with Augustin Dumay, Gautier Capçon, Michel Dalberto, the Morauges Quintet, Via Nova and the Parisii Quartet. Her discography includes Chopin’s complete Etudes, Preludes, Nocturnes, Impromptus, and the Concerto No.1, works by Fauré, Franck, Grieg, Lekeu, Pierné, Ravel, Webern, Fumet and Takahashi (the latter both world first recordings) and has twice been awarded the Grand Prix d’Or in Japan for her CD recordings of the works of Hikari Ōe. Akiko Ebi has been made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government, and is a recipient of the prestigious Exxon-Mobil Prize in Japan. She is artistic director of the Yokohama City International Piano Concert and is constantly receiving invitations from many countries to give master classes as well as to sit on juries at international competitions.