Junko Kobayashi was born in Japan, and studied piano with Machiko Asahina and her husband Takashi Asahina, the distinguished conductor. After graduating in music in Germany, she went to London to study with Maria Curcio, who had been a pupil of Schnabel, and with the great pianist Louis Kentner, who often played with his brother-in-law, Yehudi Menuhin.

She has given recitals in four continents and all over the Great Britain, including one as a soloist with the London Philharmonic at the Royal Festival Hall, London in 1988. More recently, she played highly successful recitals in 2019 - for the Chopin Society in the Westminster Cathedral Hall, at the Athenaeum Club, and in the Holywell Music Room. After Covid, in 2023, she again played a sold out concert in the Holywell Music Room as part of the Oxford University Alumni Event.

Her discography includes two sets of sonatas by Beethoven, including the Appassionata and the Waldstein sonatas; and in 2017 she released a CD devoted to works by Chopin.

At home, she plays on a modern Steinway grand piano, and she is an official Steinway Artist. She also plays on her fortepiano, which was made in 1821. During the pandemic, Junko learned to play the harpsichord, and in June 2022 she gave a Zoom lecture - “The History of Keyboards” - for the University of Women’s Club, Buenos Aires, with performances on the harpsichord, the fortepiano and a Steinway grand.

Junko lives in London, where there is a strong Japanese presence, and she was featured as a cultural pioneer, by Perrin and Hoare in their book, “Anglo-Japanese Cultural Pioneers 1945-2015”. In 1997, she co-founded the Takemitsu Society of London in order to promote the music of the foremost Japanese composer, Toru Takemitsu. She was chair of the Society for fifteen years.

An accomplished teacher, Junko gives individual lessons in London and through Zoom.