Rin Ozaki is a marimbist and percussionist from Tokyo, Japan.

She is a graduate of the Toho Gakuen School of Music where she received degrees in marimba and percussion performance. Rin has been a student of marimba virtuoso Keiko Abe since the age of sixteen..........

For more information, please visit
www.rinozaki.com

marimba@rinozaki.com

Hiroshi Chu Okubo is Percussionist and Composer, also He is the first MIBURI (Virtual MIDI Body Percussion) Player in the US. He Presented over 200 concert at USA, China and Japan.He is Director of HCO Music Factory Group. He has own Percussion Trio "OKOMOCHI" (updated 1997.11.18)

A graduage of Kunitachi Colledge of Music. Member of the Okada Tokoyuki Percussion Ensemble and the Ensemble Mallet. (Updated Feb. 16, 2002)

Rich O'Meara is fluent in a wide variety of musical styles. As a member of One Earth Percussion Theatre, with Joseph McIntyre and Michael Wingo, he took part in innovative multi-media performances. He has performed with the Contemporary Music Forum, the Lenox Ensemble, and the New York based Sky Music. He was featured as marimba soloist with the Women Composers Orchestra and under the direction of Michel Camilo, was a guest artist at the 1998 Latin-Caribbean Festival at the Kennedy Center. With the new music ensemble Amaranth, he premiered Puzzle Piece for three marimbas. He has composed many works for percussion and small ensemble, some of which are published by Music for Percussion and Marimba Productions. His piece for solo marimba, Restless, was required repertoire for the 48th International Competition in Geneva, Switzerland. He took second place in the 1999 Percussive Arts Society Percussion Composition Contest with looking at "r", for two marimbas. His compositions can be heard on the Audite Schallplatten and the Koch Discover International record labels. He has also spent time playing jazz on vibes, marimba, and MIDI percussion with the Bruce Middle Group and Millennium; and alternative rock as drummer for Kismet. He has served as part time music faculty at Goucher College and the Levine School of Music. He studied percussion with Randy Eyles, Gar Whaley, Ron Barnett, and Leigh Howard Stevens and received a Bachelor of Music in percussion performance from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. (Added May 6, 2001)

Mr. Nakura is a visiting consultant for Percussion Studies and frequent recitalist at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, and he has also given recitals and master classes at the Royal Academy of Music in London, here he has performed as soloist with the Academy's Percussion Ensemble. Since 1992, Mr. Nakura has been the youngest member of Percussion Group '72, Japan's most prestigious percussion ensemble. He was awarded the 1987 NHK Prize for Classical Music and the 1990 Japanese Musician's Union Prize, which presented him as soloist with the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra.
Graduate of Tokyo's Musashino College (1988). [Exerpt from Young Concert Artists Bio] (added 1997.11.16)

Takako Nagano started taking piano lessons at the age of five.
She was accepted as a piano major at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
An accidental meeting with Robert Rosen, Professor of Percussion made up her mind to shift into the world of percussion, especially marimba which she can show her forte and can use her pianistic background.
Upon graduation from UW, she decided to perform exclusively on the marimba.
She continued further marimba studies with Professor Doug Walter at the University of Colorado where she received the prestigious Vice Chancellor's Award for her musical excellence. She holds BA degree in Piano and Percussion from the University of Wisconsin and MM degree in Percussion performance (Marimba Emphasis) from the University of Colorado. She currently resides in Kyoto, Japan where she actively gives solo marimba recitals, lessons and masterclasses. (Added Feb. 16, 2002)

Katarzyna Mycka was born in Leningrad, started playing percussion at the age of 16. Fascinated by the weath of different sounds, she began working intensively on the wide ranging percussion instrumentarium and its often very difficult repertoire. As soon as three years later the young musician had her first success - 1st prize in the Polish Percussion Competition in Opole. In the following year she was awarded a special prize as youngest participant at the Concours International d

William Moersch is an Assistant Professor of Percussion (1998) and Chair of the Percussion Division
B.M. (with High Distinction) and M.M. (percussion performance), University of Michigan.wmoersch@uiuc.edu

William Moersch is internationally renowned as a marimba virtuoso, chamber and symphonic percussionist, recording artist, and educator. He has appeared as soloist with symphonic orchestras and in recital throughout North and South America, Europe, the Far East, and Australia. One of twelve international marimbists featured at the World Marimba Festival in Osaka, Japan in 1998, he is perhaps best known for his solo compact disc, The Modern Marimba, and for commissioning over the past twenty years virtually the entire prominent modern American repertoire for solo marimba. Recently appointed Assistant Professor and Chair of the Percussion Division at the University of Illinois, Mr. Moersch also created the graduate degree programs in marimba performance at the Peabody Conservatory and Rutgers University and has presented master classes throughout the world. A graduate of the University of Michigan, where he was a scholarship student of Charles Owen, Mr. Moersch was a free-lance percussionist in New York for over twenty years. He has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, New York City Ballet, New Jersey Symphony, American Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and as a featured soloist on numerous motion picture soundtracks. Currently, he is Principal Timpanist and Percussionist of Sinfonia da Camera and Principal Percussionist of the Bard Music Festival.
(Added 1997.6.12, Updated 1998.6.21, Update 1998.10.24, Updated 1999.01.10, Updated 2002.08.15)

Nanae Mimura is being hailed as one of the most significant marimba players of her generation. Still in her mid-twenties, Ms. Mimura is the winner of three prestigious competitions. At the 1999 Concert Artists Guild Competition, she received the Nathan Wedeen Management Award. In 1998, she won first prize in the Settimane Musicale di Lugano Solo Competition. She received first prize at the Percussive Arts Society Marimba Competition in 1997. Other awards she has received include first prize in the Japan Percussion Society's 13th Percussion Competition and the NTT DoCoMo Award. While in Switzerland in 1998 performing several solo recitals, she became the youngest recipient of the Premio Alosi given by the Associazione Lirico Orchestrale della Svizzera Italiana.
Ms. Mimura recently performed in Europe and Japan. She performed at the World Drum Festival in Hamburg, Germany; Percfest in Laigueglia, Italy; and at Canora Hall in Okaya, Japan. Recent performances in Massachusetts include the world premiere of a marimba concerto by Kenji Kikuchi with the Melrose Symphony Orchestra, and a concert at the Berklee College of Music Mallet Keyboard Festival at which she has been a member of the faculty for two years.
Nanae Mimura was born in Japan in 1974. She began to play the marimba at age three, the piano at five, and percussion instruments at thirteen. She graduated from Kunitachi College of Music at the top of her class in 1997, receiving the prestigious Takeoka Award. She is currently a student at The Boston Conservatory working toward a Master of Music in Marimba. Her teachers include the acclaimed marimbist Nancy Zeltsman and Boston Pops percussionist Patrick Hollenbeck.
With a wide repertoire that reflects her interest in many styles of music, Ms. Mimura's warm and soulful performance style has been enthusiastically received by critics and audiences alike. She performed her Boston debut recital at The Boston Conservatory Theater on October 3, 1999, and New York debut recital at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on October 19, 1999, sponsored by Concert Artists Guild, Asahi Breweries, Ltd. and Yamaha Corporation of America. She will perform her formal Tokyo debut at Kioi Hall on January 12, 2000, sponsored by Japan Arts Corporation, Sony Music Entertainment, Asahi Breweries, Ltd. and Yamaha Corporation. Ms. Mimura will perform a marimba concerto with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra at Orchard Hall in Tokyo on December 31, 1999. Her first solo CD for Sony Classical will be released during 2000.
Ms. Mimura is represented by Concert Artists Guild Management in New York, and soon will also be represented by Japan Arts Management in Asia. Ms. Mimura is a Yamaha performing artist. (Added 1998.11.22, Updated 1999.11.29)

An alumni of The North Carolina School of the Arts and the Mannes Conservatory of Music in NYC, PJ Merola maintains an active career and is one of the few solo percussionist/marimbists working today. He received an exclusive award in Solo Percussion Performance from the National Endowment for the Arts (USA) in 1997 and collaborates/performs/composes extensively with many groups and organizations. He is a large advocate of multi-media expression and new music, while maintaining a focus on classical transcriptions and adaptations within the medium.(Added 2002.05.03)