Yoshiko Arahata is Visiting Assistant Professor and postdoctoral resident scholar in the Chamber and Collaborative Music department at Indiana University.
Arahata enjoys a multifaceted musical career as an internationally active pianist, collaborative musician, educator, and composer. Top prize winner of national and international competitions including Bradshaw & Buono and Los Angeles Liszt, Arahata has performed solo and collaborative recitals at AmiCa Associazione musicale internazionale de Calatinoin in Sicily (Italy), Amalfi International Piano Festival (Italy), Gijon International Piano Festival (Spain), International Piano Academy Moulin d’Andé (France), Ritos Project (Greece), Preston Bradley Hall (Chicago), Roppongi Concert Hall (Japan), and Hong Kong Cultural Centre (Hong Kong). Her concerto appearances span from traditional works by Bach and Beethoven to contemporary ensembles with featured piano parts by Wolfgang Rihm, György Ligeti, Steve Reich, and Aaron Jay Kernis.
A sought-after collaborative and chamber musician, Arahata has performed with numerous instrumentalists and vocalists, including renowned violinist Charles Castleman, musicians from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, percussionist Joshua Graham on “Music after 2000” Midwest tour, Ensemble-in-Residence in Texas as the founding member of Elgin Trio, and artists at the Garth Newel Chamber Music Festival. During the pandemic, Arahata performed and produced a virtual Rochester Fringe Festival show with the acclaimed mezzo-soprano Jessica Ann Best. She has served as a principal and associate pianist in orchestras and contemporary music ensembles at Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the University of Rochester Jazz Ensemble. Rochester CITY Newspaper described Arahata as “Shining in her own right without overshadowing [her collaborative musician]…the pianist possesses an exacting facility at the keyboard, playing with a vibrancy not often heard…”.
Arahata actively performs contemporary and underrepresented music, improvises, and composes in a variety of styles and mediums, including frequent collaborations with dancers. In the summer of 2022, she launched a course “The Pianist’s Guide to Dance Accompaniment” at the Eastman School of Music. She has presented her research at the International Society for Improvised Music Conference, NYSMTA/MTNA Symposium, Conero Piano Pedagogy Conference, and KU Asian Classical Music Initiatives Conference.
Arahata has held diverse teaching and coaching positions. She has taught at Nazareth College, SUNY Geneseo, Alfred University, Hochstein School of Music, and Eastman School of Music, where she maintained a full studio for both collegiate and community divisions and received the Excellence in Teaching Assistant Award. She also serves on the Creative Music Making committee of the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy and is an active master class teacher and competition adjudicator.
Arahata grew up in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. She holds Bachelor of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music from Northwestern University. She has studied with Barry Snyder, Alan Chow, and Enrico Elisi. She also credits many mentors, including Dariusz Terefenko, Jean Barr, Manami Kawamura and Nobuyo Nishizaka.
