Send a text Mariko Sato — From Searching to Freedom Long before discovering the Taubman Approach, Mariko Sato was already searching. As an accomplished concert artist and professor, she had built an international career. Yet she continued asking deeper questions: How can I play more efficiently? More expressively? Without fatigue or injury? The turning point came not in her own playing — but in her son’s. After developing tendonitis from over-practicing, her son sought help from teachers, doctors, and specialists. Nothing offered lasting recovery. Then he discovered the Taubman Approach at the Golandsky Institute in New York. Under the guidance of Edna Golandsky — and with a pivotal lesson from Dorothea Taubman herself — he fully recovered and completed his master’s degree injury-free. For Mariko, this felt miraculous. Curiosity turned into commitment. In the late 1990s, she attended the Taubman Summer Symposium — and everything changed. Over nearly 30 years of study with mentors including Mary Moran, Edna Golandsky, Bob Durso, and John Bloomfield, Mariko refined her understanding of coordinated movement at the piano. She became an Associate Faculty Member and Master Teacher with the Golandsky Institute — one of only three certified Taubman teachers in Canada, and the only one at the master level. In this episode, Mariko shares: How forearm rotation replaced stretching and tensionWhy pressing into the keys creates fatigue and sound distortionHow small hands and physical “limitations” can become strengthsThe transformation that allowed her to perform repertoire she once avoidedWhy comparison — twisted vs. untwisted, pressed vs. released — is the key to learningShe speaks candidly about childhood discouragement — being told her hands were not suited for a professional career — and how understanding coordinated movement allowed her body to “become piano hands.” Through the Taubman Approach, she not only solved technical problems. She gained the ability to analyze and solve them independently. Her story is not about quick fixes. It is about refinement, logic, and lived experience. After three decades of study, she describes the work not as static doctrine, but as a living research community — one that continues to evolve, deepen, and empower pianists to play with freedom and confidence. For anyone navigating tension, injury, doubt, or physical limitation — this conversation offers clarity, hope, and practical direction. About Mariko Sato Mariko Sato is a Tokyo-born concert pianist, professor, and Master Teacher of the Taubman Approach based in Montréal. She has performed internationally across three continents and contributed to six CD recordings. A longtime faculty member at Université Laval and the Cégep régional de Lanaudière, she has studied the Taubman Approach since 1995 and has taught it since 2006. She serves as an Associate Faculty Member at the Golandsky Institute and specializes in injury prevention, coordinated movement, and sustainable piano technique. Episode Themes • Injury recovery and tendonitis • Efficient forearm rotation • Twisting vs. coordinated alignment • Small hands and physical myths • The Taubman community and ongoing research The Golandsky Institute's mission is to provide cutting-edge instruction to pianists based on the groundbreaking work of Dorothy Taubman. This knowledge can help them overcome technical and musical challenges, cure and prevent playing-related injuries, and lead them to achieve their highest level of artistic excellence. Please visit our website at: www.golandskyinstitute.org.
