Music

Jamie Parker

Jamie Parker is a concert pianist with an extensive career both as a soloist and as part of chamber ensembles, including the renowned Gryphon Trio. Born in British Columbia, he studied at the Vancouver Academy of Music and the University of British Columbia, and continued on to The Juilliard School. He is now a teacher […]

Masako Yamaguchi

Masako Yamaguchi was a koto player from the Kansai region of Japan. She was trained in the Ikuta style of koto playing, her principal teachers being Miyako Kyakuden, Kinrei Shizuki, and Soyo Nakamura, and was herself for decades an important koto teacher in Toronto. She also received her BA in English Literature from Kansai University […]

Yoshimaru Abe

Yoshimaru Abe was an entertainer, artist, haiku poet, garden designer. Born in 1914 in Fukuoka, Japan, Abe immigrated to Canada in 1927 to join his parents in Port Hammond, BC. There he worked for the local lumber mill while also working on the family strawberry farm. With other Japanese community members, he engaged in shibai […]

Vernon Hakkaku

Vernon Hakkaku was a well-known piano accompanist for many Nisei singers during and after the Second World War. He was known for having a distinctively Japanese style which suited the Nisei singers well. Terry Watada recalls: ‘Vernon Hakkaku was a postal worker in Toronto. His house in Cabbagetown was sparsely furnished, with only a baby […]

Gordon Hashimoto

Gordon Hashimoto is a Montreal-based editor, filmmaker and musician. As a student at Concordia University, he variously produced, wrote, directed, and edited a number of experimental short films; as a professional in the filmmaking industry, he works primarily as a picture editor or assistant editor, on such productions as Rene Levesque, Fries with That, and […]

Susan Dunstan

Susan Dunstan is a singer, voice teacher and musical theatre performer. She has spent the past 20 years on some of the most prestigious stages, playing lead roles in Tony Award winning musicals across Canada and the USA. Currently she is appearing in Come From Away on Broadway. Other select credits include Kinky Boots, Disney’s […]

Mariko Sato

Mariko Sato is a Tokyo-born concert pianist, accompanist, and teacher based in Montreal. She immigrated to Canada at the age of 18 to study music at Laval University in Quebec City, eventually earning both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. She has gone on to an extensive teaching and performance career, performing on three continents and […]

Fujiko Imajishi

Japanese-born Fujiko Imajishi has made her home in Canada since 1968. After studies with Lorand Fenyves, Ruggiero Ricci, Franco Gulli and the Hungarian Quartet she went on to win both the Montreal and Toronto Symphony Competitions. She is concertmaster of the Esprit Orchestra and until 2009 was concertmaster of the National Ballet of Canada, and […]

Jeannette Hirasawa Moore

Flutist Jeannette Hirasawa Moore has appeared as soloist with the Toronto Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Ensemble Sir Ernest MacMillan and Hart House Orchestra. Originally from Hamilton ON, Hirasawa Moore lived in Toronto where she performed as principal flute of the Toronto Pops Orchestra, Toronto Operetta Theatre, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, and Toronto Philharmonic. […]

Sansho Daiko

Formed in 2010, Sansho Daiko is a Vancouver-based taiko group that brings a fresh approach to an ancient art form. Drawing on both traditional and contemporary repertoire, the group creates a visual and aural experience that defies easy categorization and crosses ethnic and cultural boundaries. Like the plant it was named after, Sansho Daiko seeks […]

Kayo Jane Miki

Kayo Jane Miki is a violinist. Born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, she began her violin studies at age nine. As a high school student she earned her diploma from the Interlochen Arts Academy and then completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music. She has participated in the […]

Takako Yanagida-Lordly

Takako Yanagida-Lordly is a soprano singer. She is well known for her exquisite voice, onstage charisma and exceptional interpretations of Japanese Art Song. Yanagida-Lordly studied at the Kunitachi College of Music, Japanese National Institute for Opera in Tokyo, and in Vienna, with the renowned tenor Anton Dermota on a Japanese government fellowship. She was the […]

Victor Sawa

Victor Sawa is a music conductor, frequently dubbed as ‘the modern renaissance man’ for his wide variety of interests and experiences. Born in Montreal, Victor studied Classical Music at McGill University and achieved his Licentiate of Music in 1969. In 1971, he received his Bachelor of Music and Concert Diploma (both with distinction), and was […]

Yoko Oike-Wong

Yoko Oike-Wong is a violinist and teacher of violin. She came to Edmonton from Matsumoto, Japan in 1965 by invitation from the Society for Talent Education for the express purpose of introducing the Suzuki Method, a way of violin training for young children initiated by Dr. Shinichi Suzuki who was Oike-Wong’s teacher and mentor from […]

Megumi Masaki

Megumi Masaki is a concert pianist and multimedia artist. The innovation and breadth of her artistic activity, dynamic temperament and ‘riveting and mind-expanding’ performances have earned her a reputation as a leading interpreter of contemporary music. She specializes in exploring how sound, image, text and movement can be integrated in multimedia works. Masaki frequently collaborates […]