Tower Arts Recital Series Begins 11.6 with pianist YURI TANAKA
The Tower Arts Recital Series will begin at 4:00pm on November 6th, with Pianist Yuri Tanaka.
Yuri Tanaka began playing the piano at the age of four. She studied under Keiko Hagimori and Takeshi Ohkubo at Yamaha Music School, learning composition and improvisation in addition to piano. At the age of fifteen, Tanaka performed with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in Tokyo. Still a teenager, Tanaka received a variety of awards and honors, some of which include first prize in the Meiko Miyazawa Competition for two consecutive years, first prize in Chopin's Association Piano Competition, and other achievements at the Yamaha Junior Pro Piano Concert, PTNA Piano Competition, and Sakai International Piano Competition, to name a few. At sixteen, Tanaka participated in the Spring Seminar at Chopin Academy in Poland, studying under Piotr Paleczny and Regina Smendzianka. She was then selected for a Yamaha Music study abroad scholarship, where she studied at Indiana University with Edward Auer.
Upon earning a performance diploma there, she continued her studies in the states, transitioning to Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where she currently studies under Dr. Winston Choi and Jungwha Moon Auer. In recent years, she has performed at the Edward Auer workshop and at Seoul Yamaha in Korea, with special invitations to perform Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Northwest festival Symphony, and all Chopin Ballades at Hong Kong Cultural Center, where she also gave a masterclass.
Her 2022-2023 performances will showcase all Chopin Etudes in concerts both in the US and Japan.