Kanako Inoue was born in Ibaraki, Japan. Inspired by her older brother taking piano lesson at the local music school,she started playing the piano at the age of four. from then on she quickly developed her skill of playing the piano. In Ibaraki she was taught by professors from the Toho-Gakuen conservatory in Tokyo. When Kanako was fifteen, she went to Tokyo to study piano under professor Fujiko Yamada.

Kanako was interested in the way classical music is perceived in Europe. After receiving her bachelors in 2005 she decided to take part in “Musik Zentral”, a summer school in Austria. And then stop playing. However it was a huge eye opener for her. The summer school gave her the oppotunity to meet great piano masters in Europe. Moved by her performance on the piano, Martyn van den Hoek, a well-known dutch pianist invited her to come and study at the Utrecht Conservatory of Music. The following year she went to The Netherlands.

In 2008, Kanako got her Masters for piano. Because of her affinity with Mozart, she continued to study Fortepiano at the Amsterdam Conservatory of music under the guidance of Stanley Hoogland.

During her stay in Europe, Kanako fell in love with chamber music. With her warm and open personality, she is well equipped to accompany other performers, musicians and dancers. Therefore she is one of the most wanted pianist in The Netherlands. With the singer Bernadeta Astari, she decided to form a duo. Together they followed many lied/art songs masterclasses in Europe and performed in the The Netherlands, Japan, and Indonesia. They were also invited to perform at Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam during the Dutch Classical Talent Tour in 2012. Since then, Kanako has also performed with many young talented singers like Rosina Fabius and Michael Wilmering. 

Together with Rosina Fabius she went to Austria, Baden bei Wien, to do the summer course “Frans Schubert Institute”. Since then they are performing more intensively together. 

Since 2010, Kanako became the official accompanist for string players at the Peter de Grote Festival in Groningen. She became the pianist on residence of the Cugnon Project, which is organized by one of the inspiring violin professor Chris Duindam. Also Kanako organises many concerts with string players. Amongst them: Emma Besselaar, Olivia Doflein, Johan Olof, Mario Rio and Lena ter Schagget. She is also engaged in the following chamber music ensembles: Bernadeta Astari trio.

Kanako also likes to be involved in dance. She worked as a guest pianist at the Conservatory Rotterdam Ballet Academy, the National Ballet Academy Amsterdam, and the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet. Currently she is working as a repetitor for Dancers, violinists and contrabass players at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Den Haag.