Yoshie Akimoto Eldredge, celebrated Steinway Artist, world-renowned pianist, and visionary pedagogue, passed away on May 19, 2026, at the age of 84. A radiant figure in the classical music world, she touched countless lives through her artistry, teaching, and deep commitment to musical excellence.
Born in Osaka, Japan, on November 28, 1941, to Sasagu Samuel Akimoto and Fusako Elizabeth Kajitsuka Akimoto. At age 10, Yoshie won first prize in the prestigious NHK All-Japan Student Competition, launching her concert career.
When Yoshie was 11, she, along with her mother and sister, was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Like her passion as a musician, she was the definition of a member missionary, she never failed to share her testimony about the gospel of Jesus Christ and loved missionaries and missionary work. In her early 20’s she traveled with Maren Mouritsen, a returning sister missionary, from Japan to the United States and whose family became her American Family.
By 13 she made her orchestral debut with the Osaka Philharmonic as a last-minute substitute, performing her own composed cadenza. She quickly established herself as a leading soloist across Japan. During that time the current President of the Church, Joseph Fielding Smith, traveled to Osaka along with his wife Jessie Evans Smith, a celebrated singer. Sister Smith was in need of a pianist to accompany her for a performance and Yoshie was asked to fill this need.
As an early pioneer for the church in Japan, Yoshie played concerts to raise donations for the building of churches and furthering the growth of the church in her country. She worked together with Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi, another Japanese pioneer, to plan these concerts.
She continued her studies at The Juilliard School, in Manhattan, New York, where she earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and an Artist Diploma, as a protégé of eminent teachers, James Friskin and Sascha Gorodnitzki. She was the first-prize winner of the J.S. Bach International Piano Competition in Washington, D.C., and went on to perform extensively throughout the United States and Japan in recital and as a soloist, as a Columbia Artist.
Yoshie married Stephen Reed Eldredge in 1968. They were sealed in the Salt Lake Utah Temple by President Gordon B. Hinckley, who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve at the time. Their daughter Allison was born in Manhattan and they moved west when she was a toddler. They later adopted Elizabeth followed by Andrew. The family was sealed to their children in the Los Angeles California Temple.
Later in her distinguished career, Yoshie formed a celebrated duo partnership with her daughter, cellist Allison Eldredge. Together they performed in the world’s most revered concert halls,including The Kennedy Center, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Moscow Conservatory, Davies Hall in San Francisco, Carnegie Weill Hall, the Phillips Collection, Ravinia Festival, 92nd Street Y in New York, Cleveland Museum of Art, and Casals Hall in Tokyo. They recorded works of Chopin, Fauré, Schumann, Ravel, Debussy, and more for the Pony Canyon Classics and Denon Records labels.
A passionate and transformative teacher, Yoshie Akimoto Eldredge was inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame in 2021 and received Steinway’s Top Piano Teacher Award for New York-Connecticut in 2022. Generations of gifted pianists emerged from her studio, gaining admission to elite institutions such as the Curtis Institute, The Juilliard School, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT. From 2014 - 2024, she co-founded Young Talent Chamber Music in New England, a summer program, nurturing young musicians with the same dedication and artistry that defined her life.
In addition to all of her career commitments, Yoshie was a devoted wife and chose to raise a family and loved her children and grandchildren dearly. Anyone who shared time with Yoshie, she became tied to as if they were family. She was a gifted hostess and chef. Always beautiful inside and out. Anyone who listened to her perform caught a glimpse of her passion, power, creativity and faith.
Yoshie is survived by her beloved husband Stephen Reed Eldredge; her daughters Allison Yoshie Eldredge and Elizabeth Mariko (Scott) Holyoak; her grandchildren, Lexi, Taylor, Natalie, Mya, Jessica, Savannah, Matthew, Ellie, Emily, Michael, Annalea, and Lucy; her great-granddaughter Mabel; her brother John (Marilyn) Akimoto; and her sister Itoe Akimoto, along with loving nieces and nephews, dear friends, cherished students and colleagues who carry forward her legacy. In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her son Andrew Stephen Eldredge, brother Hamilton Sadahiko Akimoto, sister and sisters in laws Yuko Saito Akimoto, Maren Matilda Mouritsen, Ann Eldredge Coy, nephews Tadashi Sy Akimoto and Daniel Geis.
Funeral Services will be held Wednesday, June 3, 2026 at 11:00 AM at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint, 2198 Fox Trail Drive, Lehi, UT. Interment will follow at Highland City Cemetery, 6200 W 11000 N, Highland, UT. Preceded with visitations Tuesday, June 2, 2026 at 6:00 PM - 7:30PM and Wednesday June 3, 2026 at 9:45 AM - 10:30 AM at the same location.