​ AYANE KONDO
　　　  &
​Hanane Kondo

 Percussion, Timpani and Hammered Dulcimer player, music composition, arrangement and Painter​​
　　　　　　　　
Artistic Expression – Ayane Kondo's Philosophy
“Connecting Body with Mind, by Playing”
Ayane Kondo embraces unrestricted methods to express her inner truth with sincerity.
For her, improvising and composing on instruments and painting on a blank canvas are inseparable acts — natural, effortless processes born from the same source of intuition. Through both music and painting, she enters into a deep dialogue with her own heart, quieting inner noise and allowing the authentic flow of her inner world to emerge.
Music — or more precisely, playing instruments — is for her a sensual and bodily experience that investigates emotion. Playing becomes an act of reconnecting the physical body with the mind, a bridge between sensation and thought.
When her focus drifts toward human complexities, her body feels the weight of those riddles. To restore her grounding, she returns to rhythm and melody — sounds that arise simply from the movement of her fingers — and through this, finds a moment of harmony within herself.
Her artistic universe often revolves around the themes of life, the universe, and time. Refusing to limit her expressive tools defines her as an artist — she moves fluidly between music, painting, and occasionally acting.
As an educator, she encourages students to explore music through honest self-expression, believing that this sincere act of creation can become a profound emotional support.
Through her performances, she hopes to share a moment of stillness — where rhythm and melody bring peace — and to offer glimpses of transformation that may quietly resonate within others’ lives.

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Ayane Kondo: Multiple Percussionist, Hammered Dulcimer Soloist, Educator, Composer & Visual Artist
Ayane Kondo draws on her classical music training to perform a wide-ranging repertoire, from traditional works to original compositions and improvisations inspired by themes such as dialogue with the universe, nature, life, and time. Influenced by her father, conductor Hisaatsu Kondo, she began making music at the age of two. In 2011, she graduated from the percussion department of the Tokyo College of Music High School, and in 2014, she began private studies with Michael Kroutil, timpanist of the Czech Philharmonic. After winning 4th Prize in the 2020 World BACH Competition (Instrumental Professional, Hammered Dulcimer Solo), she relocated to Berlin, where she is currently recognized as the only professional hammered dulcimer player in Germany.　　　
Her activities encompass solo and chamber recitals, orchestral appearances on timpani and other percussion instruments, as well as interdisciplinary projects blending music with visual art, film, and performance. International engagements include serving as guest timpanist at the Akademie komorní hudby in the Czech Republic (2023) and performing as a percussionist at the Dvořák Prague Festival (2023). In 2024, she appeared as guest timpanist and percussionist at the Ševčík Academy, performing with the academy's orchestra at the Young EURO Classic Festival at the Konzerthaus Berlin.

Recent Highlights (2024–2026):
February 21, 2025: Eine Reise des Klangs ("A Journey of Sound") – Solo concert featuring percussion and hammered dulcimer with guitarist IBUKI (Selmer-Maccaferri Guitar) at OAG Japanese-German Center, Tokyo. Program included J.S. Bach Cello Suites, Beethoven Medley, and improvisations.
July 2025: Percussion faculty at I-AME Summer Music Academy "Magic Music in Magic Prague," Prague, Czech Republic, including orchestra direction and chamber performances.
October 2025: Solo percussion concert and chamber duo with classical guitarist Matti Saarinen in Þórshöfn, Iceland – featuring a 10-minute improvisation inspired by Iceland's natural landscapes.
November 2025: Guest performances at Ja Kitara Soi Festival, Lappeenranta, Finland – solo percussion, chamber duo with Matti Saarinen (world premiere of original Sommerballaden), and 7-minute improvisation with kantele inspired by Finnish forests and life; also designed the official festival program.
Winter 2025: Composed and recorded original soundtrack for the film The Temptation I Had (dir. Shinji Araki).
Ongoing (2024–2026): ~18 concerts annually at Berlin refugee centers via the KiA Program (sponsored by Kia Motors); five-concert contract fulfilled with The Feuerle Collection, Berlin (2023–2024, including Ryukyu performances).
Other notable roles include conductor of an amateur choir at Berlin's Rathaus Schöneberg; curator of the "Ayane Kondo Presents – FLOTTWELL Berlin Hotel Concert Series" (four concerts annually since 2023); and August 2024 recital at Traquair House, Scotland (percussion and hammered dulcimer).
Beyond performing, Kondo is a dedicated educator and multifaceted artist. Each summer, she serves as percussion instructor at the I-AME Summer Music Academy in Prague, emphasizing pure enjoyment of sound and intuitive expression. Since 2022, she has composed film scores and appeared as an actress, expanding her interdisciplinary practice that also includes visual art (drawing and painting integrated into performances). With a portfolio spanning intimate solos to large-scale collaborations across Europe, Japan, and beyond, Ayane Kondo continues to push the boundaries of percussion and hammered dulcimer while fostering emotional connections through music and art.

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Musical Biography of Ayane Kondo

 

Till becoming a percussionist: “caught by the sounds of percussions”

 

Music has always been around me since I was in my mother’s belly. When my mother had me, listening to music as prenatal care was in trend. Regardless of its fashion, my mother was a devotee of all genres of music, such as classic, jazz, Japanese Enka, rock, etc. On the other hand, my father was a talented musician since early childhood. He used to be a sojourner in Berlin for his musical study at the Hochschule der Künste (HdK) in the 1970s as a privileged student receiving a Japanese government scholarship. He continued his career as a horn player in Orchester-Akademie der Berliner Philharmoniker and has worked as a conductor and a docent after returning to Japan. This musical life biography of my father was the main topic I had been told since childhood―thus, Berlin has seized me as a space where I might make my future home just like my father did.

 

Just like mundane families that are enthusiastic about music or art, I have been through many musical instruments since I was a child. None of them felt right for me. One day I was in a concert hall with my father where he had to perform. At his office, he asked me, “which instrument is the best fit for you?” while the orchestra was playing for the rehearsal, I sat down in the empty audience and started to observe the instruments being played. The sounds playing out from a section of the orchestra caught my ears; the percussion added an essence of brilliance and dynamic to the orchestra. At first, I fell in love with the sound of percussion instruments. Since then, my interest in percussion instruments has never gone away.

 

Discovering Hammered Dulcimer/

In the sizzling summer of 2016, I was invited to a tiny concert in a small instrument shop in Asagaya. Without anticipating any forthcoming life-changing event, I picked up the program's brochure. On the stage, a Japanese musician was playing Native American music and classic music with an exotic Instrument, which I had not ever seen. The tone was deep, bright as if listening to a pipe organ, and shiny as if seeing the light reflecting through the window of a grand cathedral. Though I was a percussion and  marimba player, I intuitionally figured out it was the tone I had long dreamed of.

 

Philosophy of my Art: “connecting body with the mind, by playing”

 

Music, more precisely playing instruments, is a sensual bodily experience investigating my emotions―that is, playing is an attempt to connect my physical body to the mind. To be inspired, I capture lively substance, but not human-related things, which would rather be a part of nature on earth. When my mind pays attention to all the human-related issues, my body suffers from the complexity of the problems and lack of ability to unravel the riddles. To be grounded in myself, I, again, pay attention to playing a piece of rhythm and melody which transform from my movements of fingers to sound. What I can suggest to my fellow citizens is a short moment at which we, indeed, can be at peace with music composed of a piece of rhythm and melody. And, hopefully, as an artist, this lifelong-lasting habit of playing can contribute to changing moments of their life.        24.12.2022      

         　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Written by Junsang Lee