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. In 2010, I was awarded a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Project Award for Music Composition.

news: As of March 19, 2012 my CD, Modern Music for Two Pianos is available through Amazon.com. On March 3, 2012, I performed at the Notre Dame Jazz Festival as a member of the UAF jazz band. On February 3, 2012, I performed my composition -- "A Shadow of Mind" at the New Music Festival, with Paul Krejci, at the Davis Concert Hall, University of Alaska Fairbanks. In January 2012, while in Sendai, Japan, I presented the money I raised from my CD sales to the President of Tohoku University. Thanks to those who purchased my CD! As you may not be aware, I had been raising money through the sales of my CD to help rebuild Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan which was damaged by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Tohoku University is a sister institute to the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I performed at Tohoku University in May 2010. I performed my modern music for two pianos with Paul Krejci in Juneau, Alaska at the Egan Lecture Hall on September 13th, 2011. On July 7th, 2011, I performed my compositions for two pianos in a concert with Paul at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Davis Concert Hall. There was good turn-out. Sales of my CD after the concert generated money for Tohoku University. In 2010, 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. That 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. Presently, my combo The Etsuko Kimura Quartet has been featured as the house band at a local Fairbanks venue. My band is also semi-active playing around Fairbanks at local events. old news: In 2010, 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!) Also that year, I performed my compositions for two pianos at the Davis Concert Hall (UAF). Here's a link to the Fairbanks News Miner article on the concert.

current musical interests: modern music composition and performance.

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 downtown Fairbanks restaurant 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) Five Worlds HiddenNature
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.