Rei Nakamura was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1977. At the age of three, she moved to Limeira, Brazil, where she began to study piano, winning many national competitions, including the Concurso Nacional Tarde da Juventude, Concurso Nacional Artlivre, Concurso Nacional Cidade de Araçatuba, and Concurso Nacional Magda Tagliaferro. She moved to Germany to continue her studies with James Avery at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, and with Yukiko Sugawara-Lachenmann and Dr. Andreas Wagner at the Hochschule des Saalandes für Musik und Theater, where, for her postgraduate studies, she majored in contemporary music, graduating with first-class honours in June 2005.

Despite having an education focussed on classical music, she does not limit her interests to the classics of the repertoire, but is particularly focussed on the development of new forms of art, on or beyond the boundaries of what has traditionally been considered ‘music’. Her work and interests, thus, foster an eclectic approach, which leads her to work not only with composers, but also with visual artists, dancers, and actors. Her improvisation project for piano and live electronics with the artist Peter Vogel (*1937) began in 2003.

Since then, they have performed regularly as a duo and have been invited to many important festivals in Europe, including Ars Nova, the Südwestrundfunk, and Tastentage in Leipheim.

Since completing her studies, Nakamura has devised a number of concept-driven projects, which have been presented in festivals across Europe and Asia. Her current project, Movement2sound—Sound2movement, for piano, electronics, and video began in 2007. Supported by the Deutscher Musikrat, in the first year of the project, she performed at Klangwerkstatt (Berlin), ZKM Piano+ (Karlsruhe), and FGNM (Frankfurt). The project is now in its third year, and has attracted a number of new composers, currently at work on pieces to be premiered as a part of the project.

As well as concerts specifically devoted to her own projects, Nakamura has been invited regularly to the Théâtre National du Luxemburg, the Ruhrfestspiel in Recklingshausen, and to the Contemporary Music Festival in Quito, Ecuador. Nakamura is an adventurous, open-minded performer, restlessly curious about the possibilities of new and different forms of art.