• Manami Kawamura, piano

    Manami Kawamura, piano

    "As a teacher and as a mentor, Professor Kawamura has been to me an exemplary model of dedication, selflessness, and wisdom. I have grown spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and musically under her guidance, and I cannot begin to thank her enough for everything that she has done for me, to challenge and inspire me as a musician and as a Christian." (Briana Ung, Biola University alumna 2014)

    Manami Kawamura has taught Applied Piano Lessons, Collaborative Piano, Piano Pedagogy, Piano Literature, and Keyboard Sight-Reading at Biola University Conservatory of Music since 1990. She also has taught Applied Piano Lessons and Piano Ensemble at Pasadena City College since 2014.

    Professor Kawamura studied in a specialized music institute in Japan which offered junior high, high school, and Bachelor of Music programs. Following her time in Japan she went to Biola for two years of post-baccalaureate studies and then on to Indiana University Jacobs School of Music for her Master of Music in Piano Performance. While at Indiana she studied under Menahem Pressler, the pianist of the famed Beaux Arts Trio, distinguished professor at IU, and currently Biola's Artist-in-Residence. Her other teachers include Jennie K. Wong and Hisako Mizuno.

    As a soloist and collaborative pianist, she has performed numerous times in USA, Japan, Indonesia, and Singapore. After finishing her Bachelor of Music degree, she performed in the 52nd New Professionals Concert which features Japan's top graduating music students. In the United States, she has given solo recitals, concerti with the Biola Symphony Orchestra, piano duos and duets with Menahem Pressler, and numerous collaborative performances. She has gone on several tours to Japan, Indonesia, and Singapore both by herself and with other Biola Conservatory faculty members.

    Her teaching career in the United States started at IU where she received an assistant instructorship with a tuition waiver and taught private lessons and class piano. At Biola and PCC, students have flourished under her teaching and winning numerous awards and competitions inside and outside of the schools including the first places of American Fine Arts Festival Concerto Competition, Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, CAPMT Concerto Competition, and CAPMT Contemporary Music Competition. Some students continued to higher education at institutions such as: Indiana University (studied with Menahem Pressler and Edward Auer), Eastman School of Music (studied with Nelita True), University of Southern California (studied with Antoinette Perry and Steward Gordon), Northwestern University (studied with Alan Chow), New York University (studied with Jose Mendez) and San Francisco Conservatory (studied with Timothy Bach).

    She has given masterclasses in MTAC branches, Opus 119, Yamaha Music School in USA, Tokyo Christian University, Christian Academy in Japan, Universitas Pelita Harapan, Sekolah Pelita Harapan in Indonesia, and adjudicated competitions for MTAC and CAPMT.