Hitomi Ue

Born in Tokyo (Japan), Hitomi Ue began her musical journey with piano at age 5, then discovered the clarinet at age 12 while playing in her secondary school's wind band. She has since focused mainly on the clarinet. After finishing her studies at the Tokyo Metropolitan Music and Fine Arts High School, she moved to France and entered the regional conservatories of Paris and then Versailles. She studied clarinet with Franck Amet and Manuel Metzger, and chamber music with Paul Mayer and Eric Le Sage.

In 2014, she entered the Haute École des Arts du Rhin in Strasbourg in the class of Sébastien Kœbel, graduating with a Bachelor's and a DNSPM (National Diploma for Professional Musicians) in June 2017. She then entered the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne in the classes of Frédéric Rapin and Pascal Moraguès, earning a Master Concert and a second Master's in Instrumental Pedagogy in June 2021. At the end of her studies at the HEMU, Hitomi received the IRPM prize for the excellence of her music mediation project. She also earned a second prize at the international Leopold Bellan competition in Paris in 2018. Hitomi has taken part in numerous international courses and masterclasses. She won first prize at Philippe Berrod's course in Karuizawa, Japan, earning her a scholarship.

Hitomi performs in various chamber music formations and gives concerts in Switzerland, France, and Japan. She notably plays in the Duo Coloris with guitarist Guilhem Maynier, in the Duo Lilhit with pianist Lise Khatib in a repertoire devoted to works by women composers, in a trio with cello and piano, and in a quintet with clarinet, among others. In summer 2021, she took part in creating and organising the first edition of the Opus 12 festival in Aveyron (France). She also takes part in creating educational and lecture concerts for children, linking her work as a performer and educator.

An accomplished orchestral musician, Hitomi regularly performs with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the Sinfonietta de Lausanne. She has also had the opportunity to perform with the Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse, the Linea ensemble, and at the MUSICA festival in Strasbourg.