Hailed by the LA Opus as a pianist with “impressive aplomb and virtuosity,” Japanese-Korean American pianist Cameron Akioka performs and competes frequently as both a solo and collaborative artist around the country. In September of 2024, she began her Doctor of Musical Arts studies at Northwestern University under the tutelage of James Giles. She graduated with a Master of Music from the University of Southern California as a student of Jeffrey Kahane and Ick Choo Moon. Cameron is also a graduate of Rice University with bachelor’s degrees in Piano Performance and English Literature, studying with Jon Kimura Parker.

Over the past year, Cameron has been featured as a soloist with the Downey Symphony Orchestra and, as gold medalist of their Edith Knox Concerto Competition, the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra. In 2022, she was awarded the Silver Medal, James Miles Memorial Prize and Audience Favorite Award at the Seattle International Piano Competition. Additionally, as a recipient of the President’s Award, she performed a solo recital for the Seattle International Piano Festival’s 2024 season in Benaroya Hall. Cameron is also a top prizewinner in the San Jose International Piano Competition and Young Pianists Beethoven Competition. Other notable achievements include performing at the SF Jazz Hall, participating in the PianoTexas International Festival and Academy, being featured on National Public Radio’s “From the Top” series, receiving the Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC) Young Artist Guild award and receiving a full scholarship from the National Chopin Scholarship Foundation. She has performed in master classes for renowned pianists such as Daniil Trifonov, Stanislav Ioudenitch and Jon Nakamatsu.

Cameron is also an avid collaborative artist and has participated in chamber music festivals every summer since the age of fourteen. This year, she attended the Taos School of Music in New Mexico as a Young Artist. Previously attended programs include Kneisel Hall, Music@Menlo, Tanglewood, Yellow Barn and the Bowdoin International Music Festival. At these festivals, she has been coached by faculty including Robert McDonald, Qing Jiang, Ieva Jokubaviciute, Gilles Vonsattel and Seth Knopp. During the school year, Cameron loves to collaborate with her fellow colleagues and recently performed a series of concerts in Southern California venues alongside violist Daniel Miles. In April, she was selected to be the pianist for USC’s “Chamber Virtuosi,” a piano quintet formed by professors Lina Bahn and Seth Parker Woods. They performed works such as Florence Price’s Piano Quintet and Claudio Monteverdi’s “Possente Spirto” at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

Accompanied by Cameron’s love for music is her love for literature: as part of the English major requirement at Rice, she presented a thesis project that explored the relationship between musical and literary form. Nominated for a departmental award, the project highlighted how figures such as Robert Schumann, Alfred Tennyson, Virginia Woolf and Ludwig van Beethoven drew from different platforms of expression in order to create dimension to their works. Each of these seminal figures have shaped Cameron’s own narrative voice at the keyboard, and continue to do so. As she begins her doctoral studies, she plans to expand on her musico-literary research through a dissertation. 

Lastly, an aspiring professor of piano performance, Cameron’s teaching philosophy is centered around helping others discover the artistic potential within themselves—regardless of age or skill level. Her students receive personalized repertoire and methods that can prepare them for their own definition of success. Ultimately, her hope is to foster a friendly and safe environment that inspires students to learn music that they love.

In her free time, Cameron enjoys playing tennis with her family and baking Japanese desserts.