Yoshiko Arahata
Biography
Dr. Yoshiko Arahata will be developing a new graduate collaborative piano curriculum at NMSU. Arahata came to NMSU following a two-year appointment as Visiting Assistant Professor of Chamber and Collaborative Music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She also launched and teaches a summer course “The Pianist’s Guide to Dance Accompaniment” at Eastman School of Music.
Arahata is a pianist, educator, improvisor, and composer with a practice grounded in solo and collaboration, integrating contemporary and world music, dancers, and visual artists. Her recent engagements include a solo piano performance at Carnegie Hall, a performance-teaching residency in Guatemala, and the prestigious Gilmore International Piano Festival fellowship. Top prize winner of the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition and American Virtuosi International Music Competition, Arahata has performed at Carnegie Hall, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, Preston Bradley Hall in Chicago, across the United States and Europe and in Hong Kong, Japan and Guatemala.
Arahata's compositions have been performed at Women in Music Festival, Rochester Fringe Festival, S.E.E.D. Dance, and more. She has presented her research at many prestigious conferences, serves on the Creative Music Making committee of the National Conference of Keyboard and is a master class teacher and competition adjudicator. She has taught, coached and directed ensembles at Nazareth College, SUNY Geneseo, Alfred University, and Eastman School of Music, where she received the prestigious Excellence in Teaching Assistant Award.
Dr. Arahata earned a Bachelor of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at Eastman School of Music and a Master’s Degree in Music from Northwestern University. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at University of Rochester.
