“at once familiar and odd, with the ineffable quality of a dream”(TIME Magazine)

日本語プロフィール

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Midori Hirano is a Berlin-based Japanese musician, composer, and sound artist originally from Kyoto. With roots in classical piano—an instrument she began studying in early childhood and later pursued at university—her work inhabits the liminal space between structure and abstraction, the acoustic and the electronic. Drawing on the tactile resonance of the piano and the ephemeral textures of field recordings, she layers delicately processed synthesis and fragmented sonics to construct intricate, emotionally charged landscapes, where analogue warmth and digital nuance dissolve into a powerful, evocative harmony.

Her second album klo:yuri (2008, noble) received critical acclaim, including praise from TIME magazine, which described her music as “at once familiar and odd, with the ineffable quality of a dream.” After relocating to Berlin later that year, she began performing extensively across Europe and developing a body of work. Her last three solo albums—Minor Planet (2016) and Invisible Island (2020), both released on Sonic Pieces, as well as Soniscope (2021, Dauw)—helped define her distinct style: delicate, layered compositions where piano and electronics converge in striking, immersive interplay.

Under the alias MimiCof, launched in 2011, Hirano delved deeper into experimental territories—exploring rhythmic intricacies, melodic abstraction, and the tension between structure and spontaneity. Over time, this work merged more fluidly into her releases under her own name, forming a unified artistic language.

Her 2017 album Moon Synch (Alien Transistor) was born from a residency at EMS Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm, where she explored the sonic possibilities of the Buchla analogue modular synthesizer. This was followed by Distant Symphony (2022, Karlrecords), a full-length work commissioned by the Heroines of Sound Festival and composed entirely using the rare EMS SYNTHI 100 at Electronic Studio Radio Belgrade—an immersive exploration of vintage modular synthesis and its expressive depth.

Collaboration has been a vital part of her artistic path. She has worked with a diverse range of artists, including string player Atsuko Hatano on Water Ladder (2021, Alien Transistor); Hprizm of Anti Pop Consortium (Love Control, 2017, raster); Lali Puna (Two Windows, 2017, Morr Music); and Ilpo Väisänen of Pan Sonic, with whom she has performed live. She has also been part of the pioneering female collective Monika Werkstatt, collaborating on stage with Gudrun Gut, Beate Bartel, Pilocka Krach, Lucrecia Dalt, Natalie Beridze, Anika, Sonae, and Islaja.

Many of her solo performances are accompanied by live visuals created by the visual artist Kaliber 16 aka Markus Wambsganss.

In 2025, she released the collaborative album Split Scale (Thrill Jockey) with German brothers duo Brueder Selke. This was followed by another collaborative album, Sudden Fruit, with CoH aka Ivan Pavlov, released on the French label Ici, d’ailleurs.

Beyond her solo and collaborative recordings, Hirano composes music for film, dance, and video installations. She recently scored two feature films: Tokito by Aki Mizutani, which premiered at the Warsaw Film Festival, and Satisfaction, directed by Alex Burunova and starring Emma Laird, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, and Fionn Whitehead, which premiered at SXSW Film Festival.

She has collaborated with the artist Anne Dukhee Jordan, composing the music for two of her short films: Auf Erden sind wir nur kurz Fabelhaft (2022) and Brakfesten / La Grande Bouffe (2022). The latter has been featured in prominent international institutions, including ZKM Karlsruhe, Ars Electronica, HEK Basel, Baltic Art Center, and the Alexander Levy Gallery.

She also created music for the Kansai Osaka Expo 2025—an ambient soundscape integrated into the open-air spaces surrounding the pavilions, subtly embedded in the architectural and cultural atmosphere of the site.

Her remix work includes music by artists such as Rival Consoles (Erased Tapes), Foam and Sand (aka Robot Koch), and Liars (Mute Records). Her latest releases span labels such as Sonic Pieces, Dauw, Alien Transistor, Karlrecords, INNI, Erased Tapes Music, and Thrill Jockey.

Selected Past Concerts:

2024
13.08.2024 Solitude Vol.II @ Trafo (Jena, Germany)
06.06.2024 Dauw Label Showcase @ Palmarium (Ghent, Belgium)
01.06.2024 Q3Ambientfest @ Waschhaus (Potsdam, Germany)

2023
16.12.2023 @ Bozar (Brussels, Belgium)
16.09.2023 tonwelten Klangfestival @ Philosophicum (Münster, Germany)
28.01.2023 International Film Festival Rotterdam @ WORM (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) *with Kaliber16 (visuals)

2022
04.12.2022 Open House @ Silent Green, Betonhalle (Berlin, Germany)
19.11.2022 Festiwal Ambientalny @ Wrocławski Klub Formaty (Wrocław, Poland)
11.06.2022 Karlrecords presents Distant Symphony Release Concert @ Roter Salon / Volksbühne (Berlin, Germany)
15.05.2022 Teleskop radius @ UT Connewitz (Leipzig, Germany)
23.04.2022 Far East Film Festival @ Cinema Visionario Sala Eden (Udine, Italy)

2021
22.10.2021 M_Dokumente @ Betonhalle (Berlin, Germany) *as Monika Werkstatt (Anika, Natalie Beridze, Pilocka Krach, Midori Hirano)
24.09.2021 Bildet Nischen! Zodiak Free Arts Lab @ HAU1 (Berlin, Germany) *as Monika Werkstatt (Islaja, Gudrun Gut, Pilocka Krach, Midori Hirano)
16.09.2021 Dni Muzyki Nowej @ Klub Żak (Gdańsk, Poland)

2020
Heroines of Sound Festival (for Online Streaming) @ radialsystem

2019
Wonderfruit Festival (Pattaya, Thailand)
Piano Day 2019 @ Erased Tapes Sound Gallery (London, UK)

2018
Radio Asia Festival (Warsaw, Poland)
Kaltern Pop Festival (South Tyrol, Italy)
L.E.V. Festival (Gijón, Spain)

2017
Q3A Ambientfest (Potsdam, Germany)
Boiler Room Berlin with kaliber16 (visuals)
sound//vision @ International Film Festival Rotterdam (Rotterdam, Netherlands) with kaliber16 (visuals)

2016
Alien Disco @ Münchner Kammerspiele (Munich, Germany) with kaliber16 (visuals)
small but hard night @ Acud Macht Neu (Berlin, Germany)
Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen with kaliber16 (visuals)
superbooth 16 @ Funkhaus (Berlin, Germany) with Kalma VJ

2015
Heroines of Sound Festival @ radialsystem (Berlin, Germany)
golden pudel (Hamburg, Germany)

2014
raw chicks @ OHM (Berlin, Germany)
night cruising @ soup (Tokyo, Japan)
night cruising @ Hōnen-in Temple (Kyoto, Japan)

2013
GRACE MUSIC II @ Kiev Planetarium (Kiev, Ukraine)
Perspectives Festival (Berlin, Germany)

2012
Boom Festival 2012 (Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal)
The Model Museum (Sligo, Ireland)

2011
WWW 1st Anniversary “PROGRESSIVE FOrM showcase 2011” @ Shibuya WWW (Tokyo, Japan)
Camera Japan Festival (Rotterdam, Holland)
Club Transmediale 11 (Berlin, Germany)

2010
Museum of World Culture (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Elektronisk Jazzjuice 2010 in Århus (Århus, Denmark)
La Brise Glace (Annecy, France)

2009
LIFEM 2009 at King’s Place (London, UK)
De La Warr Pavilion (Bexhill on Sea, UK)
Meze Festival (Newport, UK)
Sommarscen Malmö (Malmö, Sweden)
Theater Kikker (Utrecht, Holland)
Rohsska museet (Gothenburg, Sweden)

2008
Palac Akropolis (Prague, Czech)
Cafe OTO (London, UK)
Teatre Metropol (Tarragona, Spain)