Born in Tochigi, Japan, Akiko Nishiguchi (Soprano) began studying piano, singing, ballet, and traditional Japanese dance at the age of five. She received her Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes College of Music in New York City, where she also obtained her Master's degree. Additionally, she is a graduate of the prestigious Tokyo University of the Arts.

Akiko has won numerous competitions, including the 2nd prize in the Arkadi Foundation Opera Idol Competition, the 3rd prize and Audience Prize at the Neustadter Meistersingerkurse Competition in 2014, and the 2nd prize in the Nikko International Voice Competition in 2015.

On the concert stage, she has performed as a soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Gunma Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Geidai Symphony Orchestra, The Choral-Orchestral Ensemble of New York, MCF Orchestra Tochigi, and the Nippon Symphony Orchestra. Her performance at the Silvester Concert in Worms and Neustadt an der Weinstraße with Die Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie RheinlandPfalz in 2014 was enthusiastically reviewed by Allgemeine Zeitung: “The audience was impressed by the performance of the lovely soprano, Akiko Nishiguchi, and they forgot to breathe when she sang the incredible introduction of the Bell Song from Lakme. Her voice was shining, flexible, had a comfortable vibrato and perfect intonation.”

Well acclaimed as a concert performer, she has given solo recitals at the Japanese embassies in Berlin(2014) and Zagreb (2015), a West Japan Tour in 2019, and performed in the musical play “Cleopatra,” which she planned herself, in 2022.

Akiko's opera roles include Gilda in “Rigoletto” with the Tyrolean Opera Program (Maurach), Najade in “Ariadne auf Naxos” at IVAI in Tel Aviv, and the role of Shaking Mask in the world premiere of Robert Cuckson’s opera “A Night of Pity” in 2010. In Japan, she has performed as Gretel in “Hänsel und Gretel,” Pamina and Papagena in “Die Zauberflöte,” and Frasquita in “Carmen.” Her concert performances include soprano solos in Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Mass in C Major (Op. 86), Fauré's Requiem, and Rutter's Requiem.

Her albums include “Buddhist Hymn Songs” (February 2016), “Memory” (September 2017), and “Toi toi toi” (March 2020) with the trio Le Tre Grazie.

Akiko also has a deep interest in the workings of the body through singing. In December 2019, she received her teacher certification from the British Alexander Technique Association (STAT). Currently, she teaches Alexander Technique and singing in Tokyo and Tochigi.

She is frequently requested to give performances, outreach concerts, lectures, and workshops all over Japan, including for schools, choirs, orchestras, and acting training schools.

Since 2010, Akiko has been an ambassador for her hometown of Oyama, and since 2013, an ambassador for Tochigi Prefecture. She has been a lecturer at the Alexander Technique Studio Tokyo since 2017 and at Kunimoto Gakuen from 2021 to 2023.

In 2020, she began studying Buddhism, and after three years of training, she received her license as a Buddhist priest in 2023. Currently, she performs, teaches singing, and holds memorial services.