Background:

Since earning a MA in Music, I've continued composing and performing. I entered graduate school after a chance opportunity to perform with the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Jazz Big Band at the Montreux Jazz Festival and North Sea Jazz Festival.  I've composed and arrange for jazz big band and small combo.  I've studied the folk music and instrumentation of different cultures. Since 2007, I've been focusing on composing modern piano pieces for two pianos.

News: Last year I received a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Project Award for Music Composition. That grant allowed me to produce a free concert of my compositions for two pianos at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, in March 2011 in Anchorage, Alaska ( Click here for this concert's poster) and to produce a CD of my compositions for two pianos. The CD is available for sale at the UAF Museum and other places around Fairbanks or from me. You can email me for details. The price is $15 US plus $3 for domestic shipping. (US Postal Money Orders only.) Contact me at srp4318 at hotmail dot com or etsukomusic at gmail dot com for ordering information. On July 7th, I performed my compositions for two pianos in a concert with Paul Krejci at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Davis Concert Hall. There was good turn-out. Sales of my CD after the concert generated money that will be given to Tohoku University in Sendai Japan, to help in reconstruction of especially Hagi Hall where I performed in May of 2010. The University was badly damaged by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. I will be performing my modern music for two pianos in Juneau, Alaska at the Egan Lecture Hall on Saturday, September 10th, 2011 at 8:00 PM. It will also be a fund-raiser to help Tohoku University rebuild. Tohoku University is a sister-institute with the University of Alaska. Presently, my combo The Etsuko Kimura Quartet/Trio a.k.a. Fairbanks Jazz is semi-active playing around Fairbanks. We will perform at the Tanana Valley Fair on Sunday August 7, 2011 at 9:00 PM at the Usibelli Pavillion. Old News: Last year, I performed my original modern piano compositions for two pianos at two concerts in Japan: Tohoku University in Sendai and at Hokkaido University in Sapporo. (series poster here!) Last August (2010) at the Davis Concert Hall (UAF), I performed my compositions for two pianos. Here's a link to the Fairbanks News Miner article on the concert.

Musical Interests: modern piano composing and performance; jazz big band composing and arranging; the jazz movement: bebop, cool, swing, modern, and latin; world folk music and instrumentation.

My Planet

I host a weekly jazz show called Saturday Morning Jazz on KSUA, 91.5 FM  from 10 AM - NOON every Saturdays.

I have a jazz combo called The Etsuko Kimura Trio/Quartet, a.k.a. Fairbanks Jazz, which performs around Fairbanks. It is often featured at a couple of downtown Fairbanks restaurants throughout the year.

Hear how we sounded a few years ago at the Fairbanks Winter Folk Festival.  Click to listen!

Here are a couple of my piano solos with my jazz ensemble:   hear one here   or   listen to the other one.

Have a listen to selected portions of my modern piano compositions for four hands. John Nichols played with me on the first two pieces and my friend Paul Krejci lent two hands for the other two recordings.

Piano 44 Hands Shadow of Mind Segment of Six Reality and Dreams (Chopin Opus 42) 5 Worlds
These four pieces are Copyright 2009/2010 Etsuko Kimura. All rights reserved.

Five Worlds was premiered at the 30th Anniversary Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in July 2009. It was also performed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, New Music Festival on February 4, 2010 and has since been performed at my concerts in Japan and in Alaska. Accompanying me on the piece was Mr. Paul Krejci.

A watercolor sketch of Paul and I performing.

I rewrote my piece entitle Arctic Winter Morning to include Japanese Taiko Drums. It was also performed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, New Music Festival on February 4, 2010 and at my July 7, 2011 concert. Click Here to view a YouTube video of the performance. The video and music is copyright 2011.

I have been a volunteer participant in a NASA sponsored rocket payload design and engineering program unique to the University of Alaska Fairbanks called the Student Rocket Project. In honor of the successful launch of our fourth rocket, i.e. SRP-4, I wrote a big band composition. Have a listen to SRP-4 Rocket. It is performed by the UAF Jazz Big Band at a spring concert in 2007, with myself on piano. The SRP-5 rocket was successfully launched on January 10, 2009, from Poker Flat Research Range. I'm contemplating writing another composition in honor of this event.

Five of my compositions appear on the last five compilations of We Are All One an eclectic collection of works by Japanese songwriters. Arctic Winter Night appears on a yet to be released CD (release date 11/11/2010) entitled Good Night. Arctic Winter Morning appears on the CD entitled Wake Up. Reality and Dreams appears on the compilation entitled Love. Graduate School is a piece which appears on the CD "Graduation". Another piece Wild Rose appears on the CD Flower. Sales of these CD's help to support UNICEF.

Contact Information

You can reach me at:    srp4318@hotmail.com.