Dr. Koki Tanaka is an active performer and educator whose career spans solo, chamber, and collaborative music-making across the United States and abroad. He made his debut at age eighteen at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, performing the rarely heard Conus Violin Concerto in E minor under conductors Fusao Kajima and Stephen Rogers Radcliffe. Since then, he has appeared in distinguished venues such as the Eastman School of Music, SUNY Brockport, George Eastman House, Wilmot Recital Hall, and Beston Hall at Nazareth University. In 2023, he was featured as a guest artist at Penn State University's New Music Festival and Symposium, performing a commissioned work, Eight Aspects by Tyler Kline, at Esber Recital Hall.
Deeply committed to chamber music, Dr. Tanaka performs regularly at the Interlochen Center for the Arts as part of its faculty recital series. His recent collaborations include the premiere of Outside(Inside)Out (2022) by Daniel Sabzghabaei, written for the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Internationally, he has performed at Geoam Art Hall in Seoul, South Korea, in recital with pianist and wife, E-Na Song.
Equally devoted to teaching, Dr. Tanaka is a faculty member at multiple institutions in the Rochester, NY area. He teaches Aural Skills and Fundamental Theory at Nazareth University, chamber music at Roberts Wesleyan University, and violin at the Eastman Community Music School, the Hochstein School, and the Roberts Wesleyan Community Music School. Each summer, he serves as an Instructor at the Interlochen Center for the Arts Summer Arts Camp, where he works with talented young musicians from around the world.
Dr. Tanaka holds both the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Mikhail Kopelman, Renée Jolles, and Lynn Blakeslee. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Washington under the guidance of Ronald Patterson. His artistry reflects a blend of rigorous training, dedication to new and traditional repertoire, and a passion for mentoring the next generation of musicians.
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