Masuko Ushioda has performed with major orchestras throughout the world and has appeared at the Marlboro and Spoleto festivals. She was the first-prize winner of the 1956 Mainichi competition of Tokyo and second prize winner at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1966. A graduate of the Toho Gakuen School of Music, she also studied with Joseph Szigeti in Switzerland, Mikail Weiman at the Leningrad Conservatory, and Anna Ono in Japan. She was a teacher at the New England Conservatory and made recordings for Angel, Toshiba and Melodiya.