LIVE – sonic pieces, karlrecords, staaltape, alien transistor (JAP, based in Berlin, DE)
MIDORI HIRANO Acoustic Piano
MIDORI HIRANO Acoustic Piano & Kaliber16 visuals
MIDORI HIRANO E_Piano
MIDORI HIRANO E-Piano & Kaliber16 visuals
MIDORI HIRANO Electronic Set
MIDORI HIRANO Electronic Set & Kaliber16 visuals
Midori Hirano is a Berlin-based musician, composer and producer from Kyoto, Japan. She started learning the piano as a child, which later led her to study classical piano at university. Therefore, her productions are based on the use of acoustic instruments such as the piano and strings, yet experimental and an eclectic mixture of modern digital sounds with subtle electronic processing and field recordings.
Her second album, “klo:yuri” (2008, noble), was critically acclaimed by various media including TIME magazine, BBC radio and FACT Magazine. After moving to Berlin in late 2008, she performed across Europe and continued to release a vast amount of music, including her two albums “Minor Planet” (2016) and “Invisible Island” (2020) on the Berlin label Sonic Pieces, which established her signature sound, characterized by delicately crafted songwriting with intricate harmonies using piano and synthesis.
Under the moniker MimiCof, she explores the realm of experimental music and detailed rhythmic patterns, combined with the idea of drawing melodic shapes and harmonies. As MimiCof, she performed at prestigious festivals and events such as CTM, Heroines of Sound Festival, Boiler Room Berlin and L.E.V. Festival, and was invited by Frank Bretschneider to contribute to the first edition of the “Sichten” compilation series on the Raster label.
The third MimiCof album, “Moon Synch” (2017, Alien Transistor) is based on the recordings she made with the Buchla analogue modular synthesizer during her residency at EMS Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm. This was followed by her album “Distant Symphony” (2022, Karlrecords), which was entirely recorded using the vintage synthesizer EMS SYNTHI100 at Electronic Studio Radio Belgrade.
She has collaborated with artists from different genres including string player Atsuko Hatano on the collaborative album “Water Ladder” (2021, Alien Transistor), Hprizm of Anti Pop Consortium on the track “Love Control” (2017, raster), Lali Puna on their album “Two Windows” (2017, Morr Music), Ilpo Väisänen from Pan Sonic as a duo on stage. She has also been involved in the female producer & artist collective Monika Werkstatt and performed together with the founder Gudrun Gut, Beate Bartel, Pilocka Krach, Lucrecia Dalt, Natalie Beridze, Anika, Sonae and Islaja.
In addition to producing her own works, Hirano has composed music for dance performances, video installations and films which have been screened at Berlin International Film Festival, Krakow Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival, among others. She recently scored the feature documentary film “Tokito” (2024), which premiered at the 40th Warsaw International Film Festival.
Previously, she produced remixes for artists such as Rival Consoles (Erased Tapes), Foam And Sand aka Robot Koch, and Liars (Mute Records).
Her most recent works, partly under her moniker MimiCof, have been released by labels such as Sonic Pieces, Dauw, Alien Transistor, Karlrecords, Erased Tapes and INNI. Her new collaborative album Split Scale with the German brothers duo Brueder Selke was released on Thrill Jockey in February 2025. Her other collaborative album with CoH (Ivan Pavlov) Sudden Fruit has been released on the French label Ici, d’ailleurs in spring 2025.
Sudden Fruit by Midori Hirano & CoH
released April 2025
Split Scale by Brueder Selke & Midori Hirano
released February 2025
ELECTRIC INDIGO – AV Live or DJ 
