Yumi Kurosawa

Yumi Kurosawa is an acclaimed koto virtuoso and innovative composer born and raised in Japan into a family of koto players. She began studying the koto at the tender age of three under the guidance of her parents, Kazuo and Chikako Kurosawa, and later specialized in the 20-string koto under Nanae Yoshimura from age 15. Yumi has won first prize twice at the National Japanese Koto Competition (1989, 1992) and received a scholarship from Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs in 1998. She toured extensively in Japan as a teenager, performing at prestigious venues like Suntory Hall and appearing on NHK TV programs before expanding her performances internationally across the U.S., Canada, Malaysia, and Russia.

Since moving to New York in 2002, Yumi Kurosawa has developed a unique style that blends traditional Japanese koto music with diverse musical cultures to create innovative, border-crossing compositions. She debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2006 and was the principal soloist for the premiere of Daron Hagen’s koto concerto *Genji* with the Orchestra of the Swan in the UK in 2011. Her first album of original compositions, *Beginning of a Journey* (2009), highlights her forward-thinking approach to the instrument. Kurosawa continues to collaborate across genres and perform at notable New York venues such as the Apollo Theater and Joe’s Pub, earning critical acclaim from major publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.

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