Praised by critics for her “Matsumura knows how to put the flamenco feeling in the partitula” (flamenco magazine deflamenco) and "Pianist of mystery training, enormous technique, and ...oh, surprise, unusual rhythm capable of currying an entire flamenco group with her keyboard like division general." (magazine deflamenco) ,,Japanese pianist Mie Matsumura has established herself as a unique and charismatic pianist who has won wide acclaim in the Spanish music scene. Matsumura is not only the first non-Spanish pianist to have given a recital of all-Spanish repertoire (music of Falla, Granados, and Turina) at the National Auditorium of Madrid which is the most prestigious hall for the classical music of Spain, but also the first classical musician to appear as the principal artist on the stages of the most prestigious theatres in the flamenco world, such as the Lope de Vega Theatre in Seville, the Villamarta Theatre in Jerez, and the Canal Theatre in Madrid.
Matsumura began studying the piano at age three and entered Toho-gakuen school of music for children at six in her native Japan. Later she moved to the US and continued her study in Indiana University and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY where she won the first prize at the concerto competition with the Rachmaninoff piano concerto no.3 and received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees as well as the prestigious Performer`s Certificate. She was selected for the masterclass for Martha Argerich in the Beppu festival. She has given performances in the concerts and festivals throughout America, Europe, and Japan, including at the Weill Hall at the Carnegie Hall. Matsumura has been a soloist with the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra, Eastman Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Chamber Orchestra, and Asou philharmonic orchestra, and active as a chamber musician performing with the top members of the NHK orchestra. She won numerous prizes including the Awerbuch International Piano Competition in NY and Kingsville Young Performers International Competition and others. Her teachers include Natalya Antonova, Micheal Block, Shigeo Neriki, and Hiroko Edo.
Since 2004, Matsumura has lived in Spain and enlarged her repetoire to the Spanish music of its “nationalistic” composers such as Falla, Albeniz, Granados, and Turina. In May 2007, Matsumura premiered “Serenata Andaluza” in prestigious Lope de Vega Theatre in Seville, which combined the authentic flamenco from Andalucia and the Spanish classical piano music. Since then, she has corraborated with flamenco dancers like Antonio Canales, Alejandro Granados, Joaquin Grillo, and Rafael Campallo at flamenco festivals such as the Flamenco Festival de Jerez, Suma Flamenca Madrid, and Flamenco Viene de Sur. For the largest flamenco festival in Madrid, Suma Flamenca, the national paper El Mundo featured Matsumura in an article titled “Morente, Matsumura, and Farruquito assemble in Madrid,” along with her photo for the festival Suma Flamenca in 2009.
Matsumura has released the CD of “Goyescas” by Enrique Granados from ALM Record, which was selected as the “Recommended CD of the Month” by both the Nikkei and Mainichi newspapers in Japan. Critics have praised the recording as “Splendid, having captured the unexpectedly large world of Goyescas…” and “evocative of the passion and fantasy of Spain with confidence…”. She has toured Japan with the Granados. Matsumura has been featured on radio and TV and also writes articles about Spanish music in the magazine.