Mari Kodama is widely acclaimed for her virtuosity, expressive artistry, and exceptional interpretations of repertoire across all musical periods, particularly Beethoven.

In the 2025/26 Season, Kodama showcases her diverse talents with various international concert appearances, such as duo recital with Momo Kodama at Lucerne Festival, a return to Muse & Piano at Louvre Lens and Filarmonica de Stat Transilvania (Larry Forster). She also continues her series with all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas and new work written by Rodolphe Bruneau-Boulmier at Konzerthaus Blaibach. Other recent highlights include an opening concert with Le Cercle de l’Harmonie in Paris (Jérémie Rhorer), an open-air concert with Philharmonischen Staatsorchester Hamburg, debut concerts with National Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan (Lan Shui), Orchestra Haydn of Bolzano and Trento, and Orchester der KlangVerwaltungand at Herrenchiemsee Festival, and a return to Japan Philharmonic (Kahchung Wong).  

Beethoven’s piano works form a focal point of Mari Kodama’s recording activities with Pentatone and Berlin Classics. She is one of few female pianists to record the composer’s complete sonatas, with her 2014 box set from Pentatone receiving critical acclaim. Her latest releases are Mozart’s Concertos for Three Pianos and Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and a nuanced portrait of Bruckner’s piano works on Pentatone (October 2024).  

In addition to her performances, Mari Kodama also plays an active role as a music festival Artistic Director. She co-founded the Forest Hill Musical Days Festival, a chamber music festival in San Francisco, with her husband Kent Nagano, and she has also led the chamber music series at the Orford Music Festival. In 2018 she assumed artistic directorship at the Festival Tra Luce e Sogno in Postignano, Italy, for which she secured artists such as Christian Gerhaher, Matt Haimovitz and Gerold Huber, among others. Mari Kodama is a Steinway Artist.