Biography

Japan-born Junko Ueno Garrett has captivated audiences around the world with her colorful tone, poetry, expressiveness, dynamic technique, and wide range of repertoire. She began playing piano at the age of three, trained at the prestigious Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo studying under Professor Hiroshi Miura, and received a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music studying under Professor John Perry in the United States. Junko received “The Japanese Consul General’s Award” for her contributions to international relations and understanding between countries. She was chosen to tour to celebrate the 150 years of Us-Japan relationship and the 125 years of the Brazil-Japan relationship.

Junko continues with her musical endeavor in the pandemic time. In the 2020-21 season, she coordinates and performs live streaming concerts at 3rd@1st series which she has been coordinating for the last 7 years. She performs “Joy of Chamber Music” with LA Phil friends on Schumann’s piano quintet in October, “Christmas Joy Concert” with her piano collaborator, Paul Floyd, “Music Collaboration in Leipzig” with her husband, David Garrett, on Schumann and Mendelssohn in January, and her solo concert “Leipzig Connection: Schumann and Bach” in April. She will perform for Music at Noon and KOT Concert at Emeritus College. She will be in France in August 2021 for Académie Internationale d’Été de Lyon 2021 and a concert in Treignac, and will be in Tokyo in October, 2021, for a concert at Kawai “Pause” Salon Hall. 

She launched producing a weekly piano lesson video in Japanese on Youtube in July and enjoys connecting to the Japanese piano lovers. Also she is happy to see her students on Zoom. 

Under the culture exchange program of the Japan Foundation, Japanese Embassies and Consulate Generals of Japan she has toured South and Central America in 2018, 2015, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2002, and 1999, including Brazil (Mozart Concerto No. 23 with Orquestra de EMBAP), Venezuela (Saint-Saens Concerto No. 2 with Orquesta Sinfonica Venezuela under Alfredo Rugeles), Ecuador (Chopin Concerto No. 2 with Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Ecuador under Medardo Caisabanda), Colombia’s Teatro Colón and Boyacá International Cultural Festival, Rio de Janeiro’s Musica no Museu at Mosteiro de Sao Bento, Brazil-Curitiba’s Capela Santa Maria, Argentina’s Teatro Gran Rex, Brasilia’s Teatro da Caixa, Peru’s Sociedad Filarmonica, Uruguay’s Auditorio Carlos Vaz Ferreira and Teatro Miguel Young, Costa Rica’s Teatro Eugene O’Neill, El Salvador’s Teatros Nacionals des San Salvador and Santa Ana, Cuba’s Basilica Menor del Convento, Chile’s Centro Cultural Las Condes, and Mexico City. In 2018 and 2016 she toured the East Coast and Midwest of the U. S. under the Japan Foundation’s culture program.

Her other engagements include performances at Radio France; French Festivals in Turenne, Chambre and Treignac; Le Chateau de Sedieres; Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center; New York’s UN, Charles Wang Center and Flushing Town Hall; Boston’s Berklee College; San Francisco’s Japan Center; Kansas City’s Carlsen Center; Denver’s King Academic Performing Arts Center; Salt Lake City’s Libby Gardner Concert Hall; Tampa’s Carrollwood Cultural Center; Georgia’s Falany Performing Arts Center; Houston’s Texas Music Festival; Tucson; Indiana; Fairbanks; Philadelphia; Atlanta; Idaho Falls; Shreveport…. In the summers of 2009 and 2007, at the invitation of the U.S. State Department, Junko toured in Japan as part of the Belrose Duo, performing and lecturing on American music in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe, Okinawa, Sapporo, Tottori, and Fukuoka. Other activities include concert tours to India introducing Western Music to Indian audiences. She often gives masterclasses where she performs, and gives recitals at universities.

She is a president of Pasadena Chapter of Music Teachers National Association and a frequent adjudicator for MTNA, CAPMT, MTAC, Southern California Junior Bach Festival, and Southwestern Youth Music Festival. She is a program coordinator of the Third@First Concert Series in Los Angeles. Junko holds a faculty position at Occidental College, and is a chamber music coach for Junior Chamber Music. She is a Kawai artist and lives in Los Angeles. Junko is a passionate Sumo advocate and a founder of the Los Angeles Sumo Fan Club.