Umi Garrett
Pianist
Wednesday, November 2, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
Willamette University’s Roger’s Music Center, Hudson Concert Hall
Master Class with Willamette University Students: Wednesday, November 2, 2022, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Rogers Rehearsal Hall. Admission is free and open to the public to observe.
Umi Garrett is an American classical pianist who has recently graduated from the Juilliard School, studying with Prof. Hung-Kuan Chen and Prof. Matti Raekallio. She has also studied privately with Prof. John Perry and Mrs. Mina Hirobe-Perry.
Most recently, Umi Garrett was awarded 4th prize at the 2020 National Chopin Competition and 1st prize in the Juilliard School’s concerto competition, performing Ravel’s G Major Concerto. She was a finalist at the Young Concert Artists Competition in 2020 and Canada International Piano Competition in 2021. She has also recently recorded for the Chelsea Music Festival in collaboration with other artists through Opus Illuminate. As a highly-regarded interpreter of contemporary works, she has also performed and premiered numerous solo and chamber compositions by composers such as inti figgis-vizuela, Leaha Maria Villarreal, Kyle Rivera, and more. Umi’s love for collaborating with other artists has also led to performing for numerous recitals at the Juilliard School as well as performing with competitors in the Primrose International Viola Competition in 2021 and the Sphinx Competition in 2022.
As a soloist, Umi’s past engagements includes a concert tour with the Symphonia Boca Raton in Florida; a debut concert at the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, California, performing Beethoven Piano Concerto No.2; a debut with the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra lead by Maestro Kazuyoshi Akiyama in Hiroshima, Japan; a solo-recital concert tour in Japan in July of 2015; a return performance with Kirk Trevor and the Missouri Symphony Orchestra; a performance lead by Nicholas McGegan with the Pasadena Symphony and Pops; and a concert with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Mickelthwate. Additionally, she has performed with other renowned symphony orchestras such as the Wuhan Symphony Orchestra in China, the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra in Latvia, the Thayer Symphony in Massachusetts, and the Indiana Chamber Orchestra in Indianapolis, Indiana. She has made appearances at two TEDx conferences as a guest performer and speaker. In addition, Umi gave solo recitals in the 2013-2014 and the 2014-2015 seasons in a total of nearly 60 cities throughout the United States.
In response to the 2011’s devastating tsunami and earthquake in Tōhoku, the northern region of Japan, Umi volunteered to serve the Japanese community by organizing the Kizuna Concert Tour in 2013, during which she performed at four elementary schools in the area for the children affected by the tragedy. In 2015, she returned to Tōhoku for a concert tour and also to perform once more for the students. She is also a co-founder and board member of the Pacific Academy Foundation, a nonprofit organization which awards scholarships to young athletes and artists to pursue their careers.
Umi was nine years old when she recorded and released her first album, Just For You. Her performance of Chopin’s Fantasy-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. 66 from this album appears on the soundtrack for the major motion picture, Jobs. Her second recording, Music in Life, was recorded in 2013, at the age of 12 and her third CD, Storybook, was released in 2018. Her latest album is set to release in late 2022 and features the complete Beethoven Sonatas for cello and piano, recorded in collaboration with cellist Emily Mantone.
Umi is a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, where she currently studies with Hung Kuan Chen. Umi is a Young Steinway Artist.
The program includes works by Beethoven, Schubert, Price, Grieg and Scriabin.