Mari Fukumoto is one of the most sought-after organists of our time. Born in Tokyo in 1987, today she has a busy concert schedule playing on the most eminent organs, and she is a regular guest at numerous international concert halls. She performs with outstanding orchestras such as the City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Warsaw Philharmonic National Orchestra.
Mari Fukumoto received her first organ lessons at the age of twelve. From 2005 onwards, she studied at the National University of Fine Art and Music in her hometown, and in 2011 she continued her studies at the University of Music and Theatre in Hamburg with Wolfgang Zerer. One year later, the series of her spectacular competition successes began: in 2012, she won the International Organ Competition in Musashino, Japan, which was followed in 2013 by the first prize (Johann Pachelbel Prize) at the International Organ Competition of the 62nd International Organ Week in Nuremberg and by the Rotary Sponsorship Award of the Otto-Stöterau-Stiftung, and in 2014 she won the first prizes at the Daniel Herz competition in Brixen and at the Agati Tronci competition in Pistoia, Italy. In 2017 and 2018, Mari Fukumoto was awarded prizes at competitions in the Concert Church in Neubrandenburg, the International Organ Competition “Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck” in Amsterdam and at the International Music Festival Allegretto Žilina in the Slovak Republic.
Mari Fukumoto maintains a broad organ repertoire, which ranges from early music to contemporary compositions. She regularly performs world premieres and works closely with composers such as Shiori Usui, Scott Wilson, Rafał Zapała, and Elżbieta Sikora. In 2014, her debut album was released by Naxos.
As Artist in Residence at the National Forum for Music in Wrocław (Poland) she recorded a CD with the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra which was released in fall 2022. Her latest CD recordings at the Hus-Schnitger organ in Stade and at the Aubertin organ in Karuizawa will be released in the spring of 2024.
From 2019 to 2023 Mari Fukumoto was senior lecturer at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar, where she taught the subjects of artistic organ playing, organ improvisation and basso continuo. She lives in Berlin and currently she is the main substitute for the vacant organist position at the Frauenkirche Dresden.