Formed in 2018 by Seina Matsuoka (violin) who currently serves as concertmaster of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Yuto Kiguchi (piano) who has won numerous international awards in the fields of solo, song accompaniment and chamber music. They met at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and studied with prof. Stefan Mendl, pianist of the Vienna Piano Trio and prof. Peter Schuhmayer, first violinist of the Artis Quartet.
The AKA Duo’s name embraces two distinct meanings. In Japanese it refers to the color red while in English it is an abbreviation of the phrase, “also known as.” Since each member of the AKA Duo is also active as a solo artist, our individual concert experiences continue to enrich and develop the AKA Duo’s strengths as an ensemble. Even if we are two individual performers, we would like to also be known to the public as the AKA Duo and, just as the Japanese reading of our name implies, shine hot and strong like a blazing red flame on world’s stages.
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In 2022, they won the first prize and the audience prize at the 26th Rospigliosi International Chamber Music Competition (Italy). In March 2023, they received first prize and also a special prize at the Pinerolo Torino International Chamber Music Competition (Italy), one of the most important international chamber music competitions. The jury member Lukas Hagen, the first violinist of the Hagen String Quartet, praised the ensemble, saying: 'No one can play the Sonata of R. Strauss better than you.’
In July 2023, they became the first Asians to win first prize unanimously by the jury, the Miłosz Magin Award and the Best Contemporary Music Performance Award at the 3rd International Polish Music Competition in the chamber music category. They have already been invited to perform at concerts and festivals in Europe, USA and Japan, such as: the Chopin and his Europe Festival (a music festival organized by the Frédéric Chopin Institute, the organizer of the International Chopin Piano Competition), La Folle Journée Warsaw, Paderewski Festival, Szymanowski Festival, Vienna Musikverein Festival, and many more. In 2025, they released their first CD album, "in Polish Music," which was selected as a semi-special selection for the Online Record Art Selection.
They have a varied chamber music repertoire, ranging from duets to septets, and currently perform mainly in a violin-piano duo formation. The repertoire includes many violin sonatas from all periods, including classical, romantic and modern, and they also actively perform contemporary works in their recital programmes.
