Aya Sakou is a graduate of the Toho Gakuen School of Music and the Musikhochschule Winterhur-Zurich where she obtained diplomas in teaching and performance on the piano and harpsichord under the guidance of Konstantin Scherbakov.

She has won first prizes in the competitions such as the Pitina Young Pianist Competition, the South Japan Piano Competition, and the National Music Competition of Japan.

As a chamber musician, she has been a member of the Tastro Quartet touring in Europe and Japan. She also participated in festivals such as the Yoshiwa Music Festival in Japan and the Vendyssel International Music Festival in Denmark. She is also frequently performing as a chamber musician with musicians from major orchestras. Among others the NHK symphony orchestra in Japan, the Tonhalle symphony orchestra in Switzerland and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

As a soloist, she has given many recitals in Europe and Japan. She has been invited to perform concertos with the Fontinu chamber orchestra and the Swiss chamber orchestra. In 2004-2005, the BBC radio broadcasted two of her recitals.

She has frequently been invited to perform as an orchestra musician with ensembles such as the Kagoshima chamber orchestra, the Aalborg symphony orchestra, and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

Since moving to Singapore in 2007, she regularly performs with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra both in chamber series and in the orchestra. She also works as an accompanist for SSO musicians, Singapore Armed Forces Band, festivals, master classes as well as pursing an active career as an accompanist in Japan.