Nanae Mimura
Biographical Info
“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)”