Yoko Owada with Kenji Koshizu

A graduate of TokyoÆs Toho Gakuen High School of Music, flutist Yoko Owada received her undergraduate degree from the Toho Gakuen University of Music. She entered the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris, where she studied with Jean-Pierre Rampal and received the First Prize in Flute, in 1977. Upon graduating from the Conservatoire, Owada began the Soloist Course of Freiburg Musik Hochschule in West Germany under the tutelage of instructors such as Aurele Nicolet.

While still a student, Owada made her New York debut at Carnegie Weil Recital Hall in 1980 as a winner of the East and West Artists Audition for Young Performers. She also received the Hungarian Special Prize in the 1980 International Music Competition of Budapest, special honors from the Rotary Club in La-Chauz-de-Fond in Switzerland in 1983, and the East and West Artists Soloist Prize in New York in 1986.

Owada has participated in music festivals in France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Japan, in addition to making both radio and television appearances. Since her debut with the New Japan Philharmonic in 1981, Owada has performed internationally with such distinguished ensembles as the Tokyo City Philharmonic, the Toulouse National Chamber Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, and the Deutsche Bach Solisten. In addition to playing in various solo recitals and featured performances, she has toured around the world performing with harpist Josef Malnar.

Owada has taught at the Ueno Academy of Music and the Toho Gakuen University and currently teaches at the Karuizawa Music Summer School. Not only is she an active international performer of Western music, she is also a pioneer in the field of contemporary Oriental music, exploring new sounds and techniques that are initiating a revolution in the world of flute music.

After graduation from Suginami High School in Tokyo, Kenji Koshizuka continued his studies at the Tokyo University of Fine Art. Presently a concert pianist with JapanÆs foremost vocalists such as Katura Nakazawa and Taro Ichihara, Mr. Koshizuka has performed on recordings as well as on radio broadcasts. A former member of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, he is a lecturer at Tokyo Music University and performs often with Ms. Owada throughout Japan and around the world.

All Arts of Japan performances are made possible through the support of the Japan Endowment of the International Performing Arts Fund of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and are part of the CenterÆs participation in the National Cherry Blossom Festival.