Boston Charity Concert
Meet the Performers
Pianist Naomi Yamaguchi enjoys a varied career as soloist and collaborative artist. Her performances have been broadcasted on WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase, NPR’s From the Top, and plenary sessions at the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.
She is a scholar student of the Chopin Foundation of the United States since 2018 and performed at Chopin’s birth place in Poland.
She is also a founding member of “Remember Music”, sharing the joy of music at local senior centers with her musician friends.
Marisa Ih is a clarinetist from Carlisle, Massachusetts. She graduated from Concord-Carlisle High School in spring 2020 and is currently a double degree student in Clarinet Performance and Chemistry at Oberlin College and Conservatory. During her time in high school, she participated in four years of Eastern Senior District and Massachusetts All-State festivals, as well as the 2017 All-National Honor Concert Band. Outside of CCHS ensembles, she also loved performing with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras and the Senior Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble at NEC.
A native of Japan, Ms. Yuriko Nonaka won The First Prize at the Ninth International Madama Butterfly Competition held in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. She graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. She holds a Graduate Performance Diploma in Opera Performance by the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA where she won the Honors competition. Yuriko Nonaka's opera performances have included the roles of Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly), Liu (Turandot), Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica), Magda (La Rondine), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) with such companies as Krasnoyarsk Opera House in Russia, Tokyo philharmonic Orchestra, Opera North, New Rochelle Opera, Opera Providence, Commomwealth Opera, Kew West Symphony Orchestra, Mario Lanza Society, Richmond County Orchestra, Longy School of Music Chamber Orchestra. She released the CD “Reflessi di Sole”, performing Italian Art songs from around the turn of the 20th century. In this CD, she collaborated with other musicians. Ms. Yuriko has been a member of BCC since 2013.
A two-time prize winner of the Renée B. Fisher Competition, Chihiro Larissa Tsukamoto has performed at the Haydn Hall of Esterházy Palace in Austria, the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Hungary, the Schumann House in Germany, and Jordan Hall in Boston. Larissa received a B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University and an M.A. in Medieval Icelandic Studies from the University of Iceland. She has also studied ballet at Steps on Broadway, percussion at the Manhattan School of music, and piano performance at The Juilliard School. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Medieval Studies at Yale University, and is also pursuing a Certificate in Clinical Musicianship in accordance with the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians. Chihiro Larissa has been a member of BCC since 2013.
Yoko Schwarz resides and teaches piano in Lexington, Massachusetts. Born in Tokyo, she began playing piano at the age of three. After graduating from Toho Music School, she earned her B.A. degree at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique and Dance de Paris. Schwarz has performed in nationally broadcast festivals in the United States, Europe and Japan, including the Aspen Music Festival, the William Kapell, Lugano, Delemont, Noyer-sur-Serein, the KMF Music Festival and the International Rachmaninoff Musical Festival. Today, she regularly accompanies local musicians, performs in recitals, and is a member of the Lexington Music Club. Yoko has been a member of BCC since 2013.
Born in Osaka, Japan, Yoko Igarashi completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Boston University in Collaborative Piano where she was given full scholarship. Prior to her study at BU, she earned her Master of Arts degree in Piano Performance at The Frederic Chopin Academy in Warsaw, Poland, Master of Music degree in Piano Accompanying at San Francisco Conservatory, and Graduate Diploma degree in Collaborative Piano at New England Conservatory. During her studies at NEC and BU, she began working as a ballet pianist at Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre in Cambridge, MA. Upon graduating from BU, she has joined Boston Ballet School as a full-time pianist. Besides working at BBS, she is also a staff pianist at New England Conservatory of Music and maintains a private piano studio in Boston. Igarashi has been a member of the BCC since 2011.
Pianist Akiko Tsukamoto is an active solo, collaborated in chamber music and piano duo musician. She came to the U.S. in 1999 and attended the Yale University School of Music. A winner of the Nishinihon International Music Competition, she has performed and collaborated with members of the Kyushu Philharmonic Orchestra. Also, Akiko has been an enthusiastic music educator. Currently, she maintains private piano studio in Watertown, MA where she enjoys teaching with both children and adults. She is a member of the MMTA, MTNA, and the Lexington Music Club. She graduated from the Toho Gakuen School of Music in piano performance and is also a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique and a member of the ASAT since 2016. Akiko is the President/Executive Music Director of the Boston Charity Concert since 2011.