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The website is currently being redesigned with a bunch of new exciting updates! Stay tuned! (March, 2024)
Latest newsMore news to be updated on the website soon! Stay tuned!
Jul. 2023: Accepted to present at the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy in Lombard, IL!
Feb. 2023: Winter Serenades Concert Series: JAY Trio plays Clara Schumann Piano Trio and more in Brockport, NY (with violinist Aika Ito & cellist Jennifer Carpenter from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra )
Sept. 2022: Yoshiko performs with Ruben Ornelas, dancer & choreographer at the Rochester Fringe Festival! They will perform two shows "Tectonic Dances" and "Commotion Dance Theater" on September 18 & 21, 2022.
New Appointment! Yoshiko is excited to announce her appointment as the Visiting Assistant Professor of Chamber Music and Collaborative Piano at the Indiana University Bloomington, Jacobs School of Music! She will begin her position in August, 2022, where she will coach piano performance majors and perform with students, faculty members, and guest artists at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music. Click here for bio.
Aug. 2022: Competition adjudication for Artista International Music Competition, preliminary & final rounds.
2022 NEW!! Launching a Summer Course at the Eastman School of Music: "The Pianist's Guide to Dance Accompaniment"
2022 Winter/Spring Upcoming Events:
October 2021: Selected to present at the Lightning Talks on Music Teachers National Association (MTNA)/New York State Music Teachers Association (MYSMTA)'s 2021 Virtual Symposium.
September 2021: Competition adjudication for Radda Rise International Piano Competition. Check out their website for their unique competition/lesson program! Applications are due on August 14, Central Time.
August 2021: Conference presentations, workshops, and coaching for piano educators and young pianists at the Conero Piano Pedagogy Conference & Young Musician Program in Kansas City.
April 2021: Yoshiko will join Alfred University as the Visiting Assistant Professor of Music (Piano) from the fall, teaching piano classes, lessons, theory & technology, and jazz ensemble! Announcement link.
December 2020: Radio broadcast on Live from Hochstein, WXXI 91.5 FM on "Bach & Beyond with Natalie Spehar, cellist." William Grant Still, "Summerland."
November 2020: More composition collaboration with Mariah Steele, choreographer and Quicksilver Dance! All-on-zoom live performance, "Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:" live collaboration from Boston, San Francisco, and Rochester! Event link.
September-October 2020: Competition adjudication for StayHome Young International Piano Competition. Looking forward to hearing young pianists from all over the world!
September 2020: Review from Rochester CITY Newspaper is in! Thank you Mr. Daniel J. Kushner for the kind words!!
"...this isn’t just a standard recital presentation...Classical musicians, take note: this is how you stage a virtual performance in a pandemic." "...shining in her own right without overshadowing Best...the pianist possesses an exacting facility at the keyboard, playing with a vibrancy not often heard..." "Her performance is a sophisticated one...she is vocally at ease and projects a spirit of generosity." Kudos and many thanks to all of our show team members ❤️ September 15- October 10, 2020: Digital KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival show with Jessica Ann Best, mezzo-soprano!
Contemporary Musicians' Guide to Modern Love On-demand multi-media show, featuring contemporary art songs and opera/musical scenes with multimedia; "At the Statue of Venus" by Jake Heggie, "Cabaret Songs" selections by William Bolcom, visual arts from the Memorial Arts Gallery from the University of Rochester, and more. UPDATE: We are excited to announce that we will donate 100% of ticket profits toward three local organizations/causes meaningful to us: 1) Blackfriars Theater 2) Hochstein School of Music 3) Black Lives Matter (Rochester, NY chapter) We dedicate our thanks to the first two organizations for enabling our music making/Mary T. Hoffmann from Blackfriars for directing & our support for arts organizations during the pandemic; in addition, we stand in solidarity with the black community and look forward to raising as many funds as possible in making positive social changes through the arts. We'd love to see you there!!! Upon viewing, there will also be a "donation" option to allow additional donations, all of which would go directly toward above causes. Fall 2020: Yoshiko will also teach Piano Class sections at Nazareth College!
Summer 2020: Join me at NEW online summer courses!
● Summer Course, The Well-Rounded Pianist: The Art of Improvisation Have you always wanted to learn how to improvise but never had the opportunity? The Well-Rounded Pianist is your key to discovering ways to utilize your existing piano “chops” in new and exciting ways of creating music. Open to intermediate and advanced pianists, age 13 and up (adults welcome!). UPDATE: Excerpts from students- Bravo everyone! ● Summer Course, Developing Master Musician Ears This class is geared to strengthen one of the most important musician skills- listening! Open to Grade 6-8 students with minimum 2yrs of music lesson or ensemble experience (instrumental or voice). ● Individual lessons will continue to be held online only until further notice. For lesson inquires, please contact me here. September 2019: Yoshiko will join the David Hochstein Memorial Music School as a faculty of piano from this fall. If interested in taking piano lessons with me at Hochstein, please visit the Hochstein website and feel free to contact me here.
Upcoming performances, September 2019
• Time To Change (at the Rochester Fringe Festival), 9/13 & 9/14: performing my original composition with choreography and dance by Mariah Steele • Within the Quota (at the Rochester Fringe Festival), 9/19: based on a ballet by Cole Porter, TableTopOpera looks at 100 years of US immigration policy • Recitals with Apollo Lee, trumpet (Eastman School of Music), 9/4 & 9/7 2019 Spring/Summer Highlights:
• International Society for Improvised Music Conference, lecture presentation • Master class piano teaching at the Texas State International Piano Festival • Return as a piano faculty at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Session 1 • Assisting the pre-conference workshops for the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy as a committee member of improvisation/creativity track • Duo recital with Aika Ito, a violinist from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, at the Eastman School of music Summer Institute Faculty Recital • Eastman Summer Trumpet Institute, Faculty and Student Recitals • Eastman Summer Institute, Orchestra Conducting Fundamentals • Composing-performing collaborative concert with the University of Rochester Dance Department faculty that addresses social movements • World premiere performance of Isaiah Chapman's Viola Sonata • Composing-performing collaboration with University of Rochester Dance Department faculty members for the Fringe Festival shows For full performance schedule, click calendar.
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018: Yoshiko continues/begins her positions at SUNY Geneseo, Nazareth College, University of Rochester, and the Eastman Community Music School as a piano instructor, vocal coach, collaborative pianist, and ballet and modern dance accompanist, as well as an organist at the Park Presbyterian Church.
APRIL, 2018: Yoshiko passed the oral exam, the last step toward obtaining the doctoral degree in Piano Literature and Performance with a Minor in Jazz and Contemporary Media at the prestigious Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY.
(Photo credit: Michael Sherman) 
CHICAGO-MILWAUKEE TOUR: Music after 2000
March 27-31, 2018 -Recitals and Masterclass with Joshua Graham, percussion -Featuring the world premiere of "The Light Flickers" (2018) by Sean William Calhoun, which was specifically written for our Chicago duo debut -Events are sponsored in part by the Luminarts Foundation 
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Very proud of the Alfred Jazz Ensemble students on their successful inaugural Jazz Cafe Concert Series Concert! (poster made by Karim B.)
HAPPY HOLIDAYS from me and the fabulous Jessica Ann Best! Enjoy our socially distanced medley of holiday waltzes! ☃️🎁❄️
Original music composition for Quicksilver Dance shows! Nov. 2020. Come hear me delving into some new musical styles than my typical piano music or performance ;)
Review from Rochester CITY Newspaper (Daniel J. Kushner)! Read here.
StayHome Young Int'l Piano Competition.
Digital show at 2020 Rochester Fringe Festival- get ticket/donate here.
Performances at 2019 Rochester Fringe Festival- buy tickets here.
Summer@Eastman Recital with Aika Ito, violin.
July 16 @7:30pm, Rochester NY- Read the concert preview here. 
Faculty Recital at the Amalfi Coast International Piano Festival.
(Photo Credit: Chen-Shen Fan) 
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