About
A Yamaha Young Performing Artist, Mariko Shimasaki began playing the violin at five years of age. For seven years, she was a pre-collegiate of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Dr. Won- Bin Yim. Throughout her entire high school career, Shimasaki was enrolled in the Starling Preparatory String Project under the directions of Prof. Kurt Sassmannshaus. Recently, she received her Bachelor of Music at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Mr. Masao Kawasaki and is currently pursuing her Master of Music with Mr. Lewis Kaplan at the Mannes School of Music as a full scholarship student.
Shimasaki has performed throughout the United States, Japan, and Europe. Additionally, she has appeared with the Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Suburban Symphony Orchestra, CCM Artaria Orchestra, and the Starling Chamber Orchestra.
In 2011, Shimasaki formed a string quartet, Ensemble Ohio, where they held a series of benefit concerts in Ohio for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. An active chamber musician, she is a member of the trio, Three, where they appeared in venues such as the John Legend Theatre, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, NAM Hall, and others. The ensemble strives to fuse the genre of jazz and classical, promoting the simplicity and approachability of music altogether.
During the summers, she has participated in Carnegie Hall's inaugural National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, Aspen Music Festival, and the National Symphony Orchestra's Summer Music Institute.
Mariko has been teaching for over three years. She enjoys exploring student's personal strengths and utilizing it to flourish their talent.
I believe in the power of the student's ability to figure out the issues they may be facing, whether it's the habit of playing a wrong note or having a scratchy sound. I will guide them through the steps of figuring it out, but I do try to have my student crack the answer. This is the fastest and most efficient way of improving!