Akiko Tominaga
Mount Royal University Conservatory, Calgary AB
Collaborative Pianist
"An amazing assurance and strength... and most of all, the maturity and the imagination of a true interpreter." (Gingras, La Presse)
"Her sound is captivating, delicate, crystalline; her phrasing elegant and intelligent. Above all, one appreciates the humility and sobriety of her artistry..." (Gauthier, Ottawa Citizen)
A native of Japan, Akiko Tominaga began her studies at the age of 4, and made her solo debut in 1992, playing the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Since then, she has performed at various venues and concert halls in the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan, and her solo and chamber performances have been broadcast on the CBC and Radio-Canada. This season, she is performing a solo recital in Ottawa in the Master Piano Recital Series.
An avid chamber musician, Ms Tominaga's engagements include performances with marimbist Anne-Julie Caron, a chamber concert at the Instrumental Society of Calgary with Clarinetist Erin Fung, as well as productions with the Wild West New Music Ensemble. She has collaborated with Diana Cohen, Franklin Cohen, Teng Li and Norman Fischer, and is a founding member of the piano trio, Trio Lajoie (violinist Ariane Lajoie, cellist Julie Hereish) based in Montreal. In 2014, the trio gave numerous concerts throughout the Maritime provinces with the Debut Atlantic. Their debut CD has been nominated for the Prix Opus Award in 2014. Other endeavors with the trio include a performance at the Orford Arts Centre, a series of concerts throughout Montreal (a project funded by Canada Council of Arts), the Pro Musica series in Montreal, the High River Gift of Music series, Musique de Chambre à Sainte Pétronille, the Hudson Chamber Music Series, and Lakeshore Chamber Music Society.
In Calgary, Ms Tominaga has worked with the Land’s End Ensemble, including a recording of the R. Murray Schafer’s Duo for violin and piano with violinist John Lowry. There have been frequent collaborations with Phil Hansen (principal cellist of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra) in the Phi’s Café concerts. She has also worked with marimbist Anne-Julie Caron in a video-recording project playing the work of Denis Gugeon, which was recorded by Radio-Canada and is available on their website. Past performances include a concert in Whitehorse B.C as well as an extensive tour of the Prairies provinces under the Prairie Debut and the B.C. province in 2007.
In the summer of 2006, Ms Tominaga was invited to Poland for a concert tour, featuring works by Mozart. She was invited back for another tour in the following summer of 2007 with her sister Yoko Tominaga as a piano duo. Another notable project was the Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach, recorded and funded by the Université de Montréal. Other engagements include concerts at the Alamonte Concert Series, the Domaine Forget and Festival Lanaundière in Quebec, a concert tour of Canada with the members of the Israel Symphony (premiering works by Stewart Grant and Lior Navok of which a recording has been released by the Centaur Records), as well as a concert in Chicoutimi with the principal members of Quebec Symphony, hosted and broadcasted by Radio-Canada. In 2003 she became the laureate of the OUM competition which followed with a performance of the Beethoven 3rd Concerto. Other solo experiences include performing with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony, the Young Artist Philharmonic, and the Reading Symphony in Pennsylvania. She was also the soloist with the Interschool Orchestra of New York at the Lincoln Center.
Ms Tominaga holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Eleanor Sokoloff, an Artist Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music studying with John Perry, and a Doctorate of Music from the Université de Montréal under the guidance of Marc Durand. She has been invited to give masterclasses, lectures and adjudicate festivals in Alberta. She is currently on the faculty at the Mount Royal University Conservatory in Calgary.
Photo by Claire Yi-Chen
