With »Otonoma«, Midori Hirano presents her latest album released on Thrill Jockey Records in early 2026. The work brings together her distinctive classical piano sensibility with the expansive textural possibilities of modular synthesis, creating a sonic landscape that is both intimate and immersive. In this live performance, Midori Hirano reimagines the album through a setup of piano, digital sequencer, modular and keyboard synthesizers. Acoustic resonance and electronic textures interact in real time, highlighting the delicate balance between structure and spontaneity. Moving fluidly between melodic fragments and intricate timbral shifts, the performance unfolds as a richly layered interplay of lines, textures and shifting harmonies.
»Otonoma« can be interpreted as ‘the space between sounds’ or as ‘a room of sounds’, drawing from the Japanese words ‘oto’ (sound) and ‘ma’ (space, room, or interval). As Hirano explains, »I gave this title to the album with the hope that listeners would move through these different spaces of sound as they listen… Like moving through rooms, the album showcases my various sound palettes.«

Midori Hirano is a Japanese musician, composer, and sound artist based in Berlin. Building on a classical piano education, she creates complex, emotionally charged soundscapes using finely processed synthesizer sounds and the fleeting textures of field recordings, where acoustic intimacy meets experimental abstraction. Under the pseudonym MimiCof, Midori Hirano also ventures into sonic worlds that explore rhythmic complexity, melodic distortion and the tension between structured and spontaneous music. In addition to her recordings as a solo artist and with various ensembles, she composes music for film, dance and video installations.
Her latest solo album, »Otonoma«, released in 2026 on Thrill Jockey, has been enthusiastically praised »for its reflective and connective beauty, a sensational sensory experience«.

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