Naoko Takada is a Tokyo-born marimbist and educator based in Los Angeles. She began studying marimba with Akiko Suzuki at the age of eight and appeared as a soloist with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra at eleven. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from California State University, Northridge and a Master of Music degree from Ithaca College, and studied with Gordon Stout, Nancy Zeltsman, and others.
In 2002, Takada won first prize at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and made her New York debut at the 92nd Street Y. In 2004, at Lincoln Center, she gave the New York premiere of Kevin Puts’s Marimba Concerto with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s conducted by Leonard Slatkin. She received the S&R Washington Award in 2006.
In 2007, Victor Entertainment released her first solo album, Toccata and Fugue: Marimba Meets the Classics. A Yamaha Performing Artist, she also has a signature mallet series made by Encore Mallets. She teaches marimba at the University of Southern California and serves as chief judge of the Southern California International Marimba Competition.