Ayako Shirasaki

{{Infobox musical artist | Name = Ayako Shirasaki | Img = Ayako_shirasaki.jpg | Img_capt = Ayako Shirasaki before concert at the jazz club Stellwerk in Hamburg, Germany (Oct 2009) | Img_size = | Landscape = | Background = solo_pianist | Birth_name = | Alias = | Born = [[Tokyo, Japan], Tokyo, Japan | Spouse = | Died = | Origin = Tokyo, Japan | Instrument = Piano | Genre = Jazz, bebop, Mainstream jazz, Swing music | Occupation = Pianist
Composer | Years_active = 1990 — present | Label = What's New Records (2003-2008)
Jan Matthies Records (2009—present) | Associated_acts = | URL = AyakoShirasaki.com | Notable_instruments = }}

Ayako Shirasaki (jap. 白崎 彩子, Shirasaki Ayako; (born September 16) in Tokyo is a japanese Jazz Pianist and Composer living in Brooklyn, NY, U.S.A.

Life and Career

Recognized in her native Japan as a jazz prodigy (in the 5th grade she was already transcribing [[Bud Powell solos), Ayako Shirasaki while yet a pre-teen won many prizes including the Grand Prize at the Asakusa Jazz Competition. Her professional career began at the tender age of twelve when she began regular appearances at the "J" jazz club in Tokyo. Her extraordinary talent was soon recognized, and she was featured in Swing Journal.

Extremely versatile, Ayako majored in classical music at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and performed as a classical pianist for several years after graduation. But the love of the jazz idiom instilled by her father from the age of five won out, and Ayako soon returned to her first love, winning in 1995 second prize in the prestigious First Annual Heineken Jazz Competition.

In 1997 Ayako moved to New York City where she currently resides. Her talent won her a scholarship in the masters program at the Manhattan School of Music where she studied performance with such noted teachers as Kenny Barron and Ted Rosenthal and composition with Michael Abene.

Ayako has been most strongly influenced by bebop dynamos Bud Powell and Tommy Flanagan. But she also favors the hypersensitive Bill Evans and robust Phineas Newborn Jr. She has played with Lewis Nash, Marco Panascia, Kalil Madi, John Benitez, Steve Kirby, Kengo Nakamura, Kenny Garrett, Clarence Penn, Kit McLure, Harold Ousley and many more.

Ayako released two self-produced CDs in 2002, "Live in New York" with her trio and "The Duo Live" with vibraphonist Tim Collins. In August 2003, her major debut CD "Existence" (Lewis Nash on drums, Marco Panascia on bass) was released in Japan. Her second major CD "Musically Yours" was released in June, 2005. Before giving birth to her two children, Ayako’s long-waited solo piano album "Home Alone" was released in April 2006. In the same year she has been featured on Marian McPartlands "An NPR Jazz Christmas with Marian McPartland and Friends, Vol. 3".

After her parental leave she continued her career with a performance at the 1st International Jazz Solo Piano Festival 2009 in Germany and founded her own music school for Brooklyn and Manhattan in 2010, the Sakura Music School.

Awards and Highlights

• Performance at Jazz Journalists Association Awards Gala 2010, New York
• 1st International Jazz Solo Piano Festival 2009, Germany, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg
• Guest on Marian McPartland’s radio show “Piano Jazz” 2006; National Public Radio
• Finalist in the Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Piano Competition 2005 and 2006; Washington, D.C., USA
• Finalist in the Great American Jazz Piano Competition 2004, 2005 and 2006; Jacksonville, Fl., USA
• Member of the 2003 Jazz Aspen Snowmass Emerging Artist Program; Aspen, Co., USA
• Second prize in the First Annual Heineken Jazz Competition 1995
• Grand Prize at the Asakusa Jazz Competition; Asakusa, Japan

Discography

• 2010 - Falling Leaves - Live in Hamburg
• 2006 - Home Alone
• 2005 - Musically Yours
• 2003 - Existence

Compilations

• 2009 - Best of 1st International Jazz Solo Piano Festival 2009
• 2006 - An NPR Christmas Collection with Marian McPartland and Friends
• 2006 - NPR Jazz Christmas With Marian McPartland and Friends III

Weblinks

• Official Artist Website
• Management Website
• Ayako Shirasaki at AllAboutJazz
• Video of her performance at the jazz club Stellwerk in Hamburg, Germany from October 16, 2009 - solo intro and trio
• mp3 file for the pronunciation of the name Ayako Shirasaki