Ayaka Hirahara

Born in Tokyo, May 9, 1984, she took up the alto saxophone at age 13, studying classical saxophone in her high school music department, and is currently studying saxophone in the Jazz department at a music academy.
After debuting in December 2003 with “Jupiter,” a rendition of the Holst suite with Japanese lyrics added (a hit that had sold more than 1,000,000 copies as of May 2006), She won the 2004 Japan Record Award New Artist Prize and the 2005 The Japan Gold Disc Award among numerous other awards. Her single Ashita (“Tomorrow”) was adopted as the theme song for the Fuji TV drama Yasashii Jikan (“Tender Time”) in January 2005, featuring the first screenplay in 15 years by Sou Kuramoto. She again achieved a record hit in May of that year with “Eternally,” the theme song for the (Toei/TBS) cinematic love story Yokkakan no Kiseki (“Four-Day Miracle”). In autumn of 2005, amid much anticipation of her next project, she released “From To,” her first cover album, in which she responded to the calls of a great many fans by expressing in her own voice a collection of J-POP songs spanning ages and generations.

The year of 2006 began with “Chikai”(“Vows”) as theme song of NHK’s (national TV station) Torino Olympic broadcasting and resonated through Japan. Her latest album “4Ls”(4Ls are taken from Love, Life, Luck and Live) was released in March 2006 and she went on the nationwide live tour consisting of 21 concerts ended with Nippon Budokan.

Ayaka Hirahara is a rare vocalist who has consistently received accolades for the new challenges she undertakes. Her career achievements to date include nine singles, three albums and one DVD release, all of which have earned places in the upper reaches of the hit charts.