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Japanese-American pianist
Monica Ohuchi
has performed to wide acclaim from audiences
across the United States, Canada, Japan, and
Europe both as a soloist and chamber musician.
She has previously performed in such prestigious
venues as Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall,
Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Brooklyn's
Bargemusic, Meany Hall of Seattle, and the
Canadian Opera Company's Richard Bradshaw
Amphitheater as part of their inaugural season's
"Piano
Virtuoso"
series. In addition, Monica has been featured in
live radio and television broadcasts on New
York's WQXR, Seattle's KING FM,
Delaware Today, a television
broadcast of rising stars, and the
WE Network. Monica made her
orchestral debut at age ten with the Wilmington
Symphony Orchestra performing Beethoven’s
First Piano Concerto. Now, in her mid-twenties,
Monica is a seasoned performer, having been
invited as guest soloist for such orchestras as
the Rain City Symphony, the New Millennium
Symphony Orchestra of Gijon, Spain, Orchestra
Seattle, and Seattle Junior Symphony Orchestra.
In the 2009-2010 season, Monica has been engaged
to perform the world premiere of a new piano
concerto by
Kenji Bunch
with a consortium of commissioning orchestras
including the Colorado Symphony conducted by
Jeffery Kahane, the Marin Symphony conducted by
Alasdair Neale, and the Winnipeg Symphony
Orchestra. In the upcoming 2008-2009 concert
season, Monica will be making a guest appearance
with the Corvallis Youth Symphony directed by
Charles Creighton.
Monica has been awarded top prizes in numerous
national and international piano competitions.
Since capturing first prize at the Chinese
International Piano Competition at the age of
five, Monica most recently won first prize at the
2006 William Garrison International Piano
Competition, and subsequently was invited to
perform at The American Liszt Society festival in
the fall of 2007. Monica is also the first prize
winner of the Wayne Nadeau International Piano
Competition, and winner of the Dorthy A. Anderson
International Piano Competition. Monica is the
only two-time national champion of the Music
Teacher’s National Association Piano
Competition, and is a four-time grand prize
winner of the WIAA Washington State Piano
Competition. She was also named a New York
Steinway Hall Recital Award Recipient.
As a chamber musician, Monica frequently performs
with acclaimed violist and composer Kenji Bunch.
The duo has performed throughout the United
States, making appearances in Washington, Oregon,
California, Colorado, Alabama, New York, and New
Jersey. Monica is a frequent performer and
chamber music coach for the Five Seasons Chamber
Music Festival, and toured with the group
performing concerts in Cedar Rapids, Iowa;
Chicago, Illinois; Ann Arbor, Michigan;
Philadelphia, and New York City. She is a
frequent performer in the Chinitimini Chamber
Music Festival in Corvallis, OR, and with the
Craftsbury Chamber Players in Vermont. Monica
also enjoys collaborating with pianist Sarah Rhee
in duo-piano repertoire, and the two recently
served as Artist-in-Residence at the Banff Centre
in Banff, Canada. She was recently featured in a
live broadcast on New York's Classical Music
Station, WQXR, performing works by Piazzolla in a
piano trio and a piano-duo with pianist
Greg
Anderson.
The performances were part of a month long
concert series held at the Instituto
Cervantes, "In the Gardens of Spain".
In February of 2004, Monica performed in a
piano trio, collaborating with the Parson's
Dance Company in an exciting production of
music and dance held at The Egg in Albany, New
York
(read article
here).
In addition to her concert schedule, Monica uses
her talents as a passionate advocate for
charitable causes, and has organized and
performed benefits for many organizations:
Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals of New
York State, The Make-A-Wish Foundation of
Washington State, SAGE Eldercare of New Jersey,
Amnesty International, the Bellevue Art Museum,
and the 2001 Dominican Plane Crash Relief Effort.
A native of Seattle, WA, Monica began her piano
studies at the age of two with her mother. Monica
holds both a Master’s and Bachelor’s
degree in Piano Performance from the Juilliard
School where she studied with Julian Martin. Her
past teachers include Marc Durand, Martin Canin,
Bela Siki, and David Brown. She has also coached
with such distinguished artists as Murray
Perahia, Jacob Lateiner, Robert McDonald, Brian
Zeger, Toby Appel, Bruce Brubaker, and Craig
Sheppard.
Monica is the only daughter of Fumio Ohuchi, professor of Physics and Engineering at the University of Washington, and Sumiyo Ohuchi, piano teacher in Bellevue, Washington. She currently resides in Brooklyn, New York with her husband.
sign Monica's Guestbook!
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