Background: Since earning a MA in Music, emphasizing performance, I've continued composing and performing.  I entered graduate school after a chance opportunity to perform with the University of Alaska Fairbanks 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 four hands, but am recently adapted a recently written and recorded piece for performance with Taiko Drums. I am also currently writing a big band piece.

Musical Interests: avant-garde 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.

My combo Fairbanks Jazz (a.k.a. Etsuko Kimura's Jazz Trio) performs around Fairbanks, and is often featured at a downtown Fairbanks restaurant.  Its members and configuration varies.

Try two of my piano solos with jazz ensemble groups:   hear one here   or   listen to the other one.

Have a listen to selected portions of my recent piano compositions for four hands. John Nichols played with me on the first two pieces and my friend Paul Krechi lent two hands for 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 Etsuko Kimura. With all rights reserved.

I recently wrote and recorded a fourth piece for the We Are All One CD Series. My piece entitle Arctic Winter Morning, and will appear on an up and coming CD release entitled "Morning". I've modified this piece to be performed with Japanese Taiko Drums, and have submitted my score to a Taiko performance group.

I'm 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 SRP4 Rocket. It is performed by the UAF Jazz Band at their Spring 2007 Concert, with myself on piano. SRP5 rocket was successfully launched on January 10, 2009, from Poker Flat Research Range. I'm contemplating writing another big band composition in honor of this event.

Three of my compositions appear on the last three compilations of "We Are All One" an eclectic collection of works by Japanese songwriters. 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". These CD's are for sale and a portion goes to support UNICEF.

Contact Information

You can reach me at srp4318@hotmail.com.