Sudden Fruit by Midori Hirano & CoH / Ici d’ailleurs, April 2025

Split Scale by Brueder Selke & Midori Hirano / Thrill Jockey, February 2025

Drifting Echoes by Midori Hirano / INNI, September 2024

Kaleidoskop Münsterland by Midori Hirano (field recordings Nils Mosh) / Tonwelten, 2024

Dreams at Dawn rework by Midori Hirano / TEKHENU Retold compilation, 2023

All or Nothing The German national team in Qatar

(Amazon Original Series Soundtrack by Midori Hirano) /Erased Tapes, 2023

MIDORI HIRANO

LIVE – ici d’ailleurs, thrill jockey, sonic pieces, karlrecords (JAP, based in Berlin, DE)

Tech Rider

All questions to be directed to MO@MEDIA-LOCA.COM

MIDORI HIRANO Acoustic Piano

Techrider Midori Hirano 2025(corrected)

MIDORI HIRANO Acoustic Piano & Kaliber16 visuals

Techrider Midori Hirano & Kaliber16(visuals) 2025

MIDORI HIRANO E_Piano

Techrider Midori Hirano (E_Piano) 2025(corrected)

MIDORI HIRANO E-Piano & Kaliber16 visuals

Techrider Midori Hirano(E-Piano) & Kaliber16(visuals) 2025

MIDORI HIRANO Electronic Set

Techrider Midori Hirano (Electronic Set WITHOUT Piano) 2025

MIDORI HIRANO Electronic Set & Kaliber16 visuals

Techrider Midori Hirano Electronic Set & Kaliber16(visuals) 2025

Press Pictures

All questions to be directed to MO@MEDIA-LOCA.COM

MIDORI HIRANO / MIMICOF booking contact :

Mo Loschelder

Biography

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 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.

Discography

Find MIDORI HIRANOs Discography on Bandcamp

to Bandcamp

Magnetic Visionaries
by Midori Hirano
Re-released in 2023

All or Nothing: Die Nationalmannschaft in Katar (Amazon Original Series Soundtrack)
by Midori Hirano
Erased Tapes, 2023

Myth
by Mami Sakurai & Midori Hirano
released, 2022

Water Ladder
by Atsuko Hatano & Midori Hirano
released 2021

New Release

Sudden Fruit by Midori Hirano & CoH

released April 2025

Split Scale by Brueder Selke & Midori Hirano

released February 2025

Sudden Fruit by Midori Hirano & CoH

released April 2025

Split Scale by Brueder Selke & Midori Hirano

released February 2025

Audio / Video

Press

Atsuko Hatano & Midori Hirano : Water Ladder

Gemeinsam schaffen sie Sounds für konzentrierte Phasen: Kaum, dass Muster und Cluster hörbar werden, scheinen die Strukturen schon wieder zu zerfließen, als wären sie bloß Illusionen, verzweifelte Versuche des Hirns, die Töne zusammenzuhalten, Wege hinein zu finden, in die elektroakustischen Entwürfe der beiden.

by Steffen GreinerDec 2021 – musikexpress.de

Si le premier LP de Midori Hirano sorti en 2016 était passé complétement sous nos radars, Invisible Island qui nous arrive via le label Sonic Pieces est de fait une double découverte. Celle de l’artiste, d’une part, née à Kyoto où elle fût initiée au piano, et maintenant basée à Berlin dont l’influence de la scène musicale électronique vient aujourd’hui nourrir ses compositions.

by G.NewmanJanuary 2020 – A Decouvrir Absolument

The experience of ‘Invisible Island’ almost feels voyeuristic, as though we’re watching from a distance a play of emotions fleeting across someone else’s silent face, morphing from melancholic introspection to pangs of cutting anguish and, eventually on the B-side, a sense of breezy relief and resolution that comes through as the bitterness of the A-side subsides like night to morning.

by Boomkat Product ReviewJanuary 2020 – The Boomkat

Invisible Island is an album of rhythm, both concealed and obvious, with a gentle, undulating motion underlining the whole experience. Rhythms take the form of repeating piano lines, obtuse electronics, or a dull, continuous thumping – the sound of a heartbeat. Fluctuating drones, warbling and wobbling as if on a stormy lake, help to expand the album.

by James CatchpoleJanuary 2020 – Fluid Radio

This track, a preview of Midori Hirano’s forthcoming album, Invisible Island, does crazy things to whatever space I’m in. It’s playing on my laptop, and just as I succumb to its warpy pleasures, it pulls some sort of widescreen magic trick and places sonar pings — half nextgen submarine, half ancient cetacean — as if they’re far far away from me: across the room, down the hall, in another dimension entirely.

by Marc WeidenbaumJanuary 2020 – Disquiet

„Invisible Island“ in the “10 favourite new vinyl releases this week“:

“Channeling both classic Japanese ambient music and a more modern electro-acoustic sound,” composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Midori Hirano follows her Mirrors in Mirrors LP – one of our favourite albums of 2019 – with Invisible Island. Mixing minimal piano with ethereal drone-scapes, its 11-tracks evoke windswept memories, and mist-shrouded vistas. – GH

by VF TeamJanuary 2020 – The Vinyl Factory

Minimal piano meets ethereal drone-scapes in Midori Hirano’s new LP, Invisible Island

Beginning to play the piano as a child, Hirano found herself unable to assimilate into the hierarchical structure of Japanese musical education, and soon began creating her own piano compositions, later working with electronic equipment.

Existing in “a soundscape filled with exotic fruits that fall from invisible trees”, Invisible Island explores “fond memories of lost or unknown places and people”, shares the label.

by Lazlo RugoffJanuary 2020 – The Vinyl Factory

Berlin-based musician Midori Hirano weaves gossamer pianos with classical, ambient and electronics in her ethereal debut Mirrors In Mirrors. Written, produced, recorded and mixed entirely by Hirano, across its 7-tracks she employs piano alongside synthesisers and effects with a deft touch. A delicately nuanced, multi-layered, sonic prism to reflect inside of. – GH

"Our 20 favourite albums of 2019 so far“2019 – The Vinyl Factory:

Mari* is Worldwide FM’s Senior Producer and Gilles Peterson’s longtime radio collaborator, and every month presents a two hour show called ‘Oto Nova Japan’ introducing a new wave of artists and music coming out of Japan.
Mari* brings piano pieces by Japanese musicians and is joined by Midori Hirano, a Berlin-based musician, composer and producer.

Worldwide FM London - Radio InterviewApril 2019 – Worldwide FM London

“Improvisation for Piano in Summer 2018 exquisitely shows Hirano’s range and skill as a lifelong piano player”

by Nico Niquo2019 – Avyss Magazine

“In the end, “Rolling Moon” imagines the water trapped below the surface, sustaining life, reflecting H.G. Wells’ visions in The First Men in the Moon. As the leaves begin to fall, exposing the sky, Minor Planet provides a perfect score for stargazing.”

by postrockcafeSeptember 2016 – a closer listen

“Rich and colourful, the third solo album from Japanese sound artist Hirano is an investigative exploration into contemporary minimalism.”

by James Catchpole2016 – fluid-radio

“Its ambient textures and gentle piano melodies are all but guaranteed to make you dream about the far reaches of our universe.”

by Jeremy Klein2016 – Tiny Mix Tapes

“her productions are based around the use of traditional instrumentation – piano, strings, voice – and augmented with often subtle electronic processing and digital samples creating a rich, rolling sound that is at once warm and melodic while tracing unexpected musical trajectories.”

By FACT2010 – Fact Mag

“Dealing with both acoustic and electronic instuments requires continuous trial and error. But in these days, thanks to the expanded possibilities of what software and hardware can do, I can experiment with various mixing methods. And the only thing that matters in the end is that different types of instruments sound tight-together.”

by Philippe Petit2022 – Modular Station

“What do you think that can only be achieved by modular synthesis that other forms of electronic music cannot or makes harder to do?

One of the most impressive aspects about the modular synthesis in my opinion is that you can customise your set-up with any combination of modules you like and build your own sound world with the endless sonic possibilities. That is to say, sometimes you get a sound that you never thought you would get, and from that you get another idea that leads you to the next sound you want to create. I find this interactive experience is the most inspiring thing about modular synthesis, comparing to other types of instruments.”

Freq Magazine InterviewFREQ, February 2023 – freq.org.uk

Do you think you’ll continue to move toward less traditional styles, or have you reached a kind of happy medium where you’ll continue to combine influences?

I still appreciate the fact that I have learned classical music and the basic chord progressions through that, because I’m sure that is still very much ingrained in the way I compose. It’s a big part of my musical style. So, I would say that I’m at a point now where I’m able to incorporate both of these different musical influences into my music, and I’m probably going to keep that style by being open to any kind of music that inspires me.

How do Midori Hirano works differ from those under the name MimiCof?

As MimiCof, I want to specialize in pure electronic sound without the use of piano or other live instruments. It’s more of an experimental music with less harmony, compared to the music I make under my own name which focuses on piano with some synthetic sounds.

I sometimes feel that there is an overlap between my two projects. Maybe I will combine everything into one project in the future, but for now I will keep these projects separate.

Kevin PressDiscussions: Midori Hirano – The Moderns

F: As an artist performing under two distinct names, Midori Hirano and MimiCof, What is the meaning of your artist name of MimiCof? How do the musical identities of Midori Hirano and MimiCof differ, and do they influence each other’s creative outputs?

MimiCof has no specific meaning – This sounds boring but I just wanted to have a name starting with M, which is also the first letter of my name Midori. ‘Mimi’ means ‘ears’ in Japanese, but basically I just liked the way it sounded. When I made my first MimiCof album ‘RoundSkipper’ in 2011, I thought that it would be better to have a different name for it, as the music became much more electronic than ever before.

Under the name MimiCof, I want to specialise in pure electronic sound without the use of piano or other live instruments, and more of an experimental element of music with less harmony, compared to the music under my own name which focuses on piano.

Sometimes I come to think that I may not need to separate these two projects anymore, because I am aware that the both music cross over from time to time. Maybe I will combine everything into one project in the future, but for now I will still keep these projects separate to keep a sort of drawer for my own musical ideas.

I started playing modular synthesizers in the last few years, and this allows me to explore the synthetic sounds more than before, compared to my early MimiCof stuff which relied heavily on sounds from software. Playing with these modules for a while makes me want to go back again to the piano with a fresh mind. This is how I interact between the two projects.

Su-Young KimF/luisteren with Midori Hirano – F/luister

Art can be a purpose in its own right, but it can also directly feed back into everyday life, take on a social and political role and lead to more engagement. Can you describe your approach to art and being an artist?

I think I can’t really separate my creation from the life I have, as my music is consciously but also unconsciously a response to what I experience over time for sure. But on the other hand, I want to be free from any of political views when creating music. Just because I always want to be as intuitive as possible to what I’m going to make, and don’t want to get distracted by any contexts.

Though it might change when I get older.

What can music express about life and death which words alone may not?

I think you can feel it somewhere between loudness and silence.

Fifteen Questions Interview with Midori Hirano / MimiCof – 15 questions

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are your reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?

After I assume the piece is completed, I try not to listen to the piece for a couple of days or sometimes for weeks if the time allows, to be able to hear it again with fresh ears because I often can’t see the forest for the trees. Sometimes I get bored with what I made only one day ago, so I often try to wait until my first satisfaction disappears, and hear it again and see if I can still be happy with the piece. When doing a final mix, I listen to the piece with different sound systems as much as possible. But a laptop, smartphone, or Bluetooth speakers are always the ones I check everything in the end, as these are the devices in which I think most people listen to my music these days.

In the studio with Midori Hirano – Headphone Commute

“At the moment I can’t stop listening to:

Midori Hirano: If I had to pick one, Lucrecia Dalt’s soundtrack album “The Baby” would probably be my choice. I love the weirdness of her sound, which still manages to sound pop. Even though it was made as a soundtrack for the TV series, it is full of her signature sounds — her weird vocals, warm merengue‑like rhythmic grooves.

William StokesTalkback: Brueder Selke & Midori Hirano – SOUND ON SOUND

“Each track on this record is composed in different scales from A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and back to A, inspired by the idea of parallelism, suggesting a connection of meaning through an echo of form.”

…

For instance, “Scale F” is one of the more hopeful-sounding tracks, rising above some of the bleakness that preceded it with a gentle progression soaring to powerfully emotional heights. “Scale G” rides along a gentle bed of sustained synths and strings that bring to mind vibrant film scores. Closing out the record by returning to the first track’s scale note, “Scale AA” incorporates more deliberate electronic sounds that the three musicians are known for but rarely revisit on this record. The gentle pulse of the synthesizer brings modernity to the forefront, but the result maintains a powerful classical spirit.

Chris IngallsCelebrated Berlin-based composers Brueder Selke and Midori Hirano form a trio for this spellbinding new collaborative release. – PopMatters

“… Sudden Fruit est un album de seuils, d’entre-deux. Il est ce moment juste avant l’aube, où les ombres se diluent dans la lumière, ce clignement d’yeux entre veille et sommeil. Mirages, Memories, bijou introspectif, en est l’exemple parfait : chaque silence devient un souffle, chaque note un écho de ce qui aurait pu être dit, mais ne l’a pas été. …”

"Suddenfruit" review, May 2025 – Solenopole

MIDORI HIRANO / MIMICOF booking contact :

Mo Loschelder

MIDORI HIRANO

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