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An artist who has gained worldwide acclaim for interpretative
and expressive skills which reveal an exciting and diverse musical
palette of color and inventiveness, pianist Chitose Okashiro
appears in recitals, chamber and concerto performances throughout
Japan, The United States, Canada and South America.
Miss Okashiro's appeal extends broadly to the press who hail
her varyingly as "a young artist of genius in the true sense
of the word"... "dyed-in-the-wool Scriabin player" (Art of Record,
Japan); "I'm still innocent enough to sit in open-mouthed awe
at something like Chitose Okashiro's consummate technical mastery"...
"Stay tuned to the idiomatic performances of Richter, Neuhaus,
Okashiro, Fyodorova and Sfronitsky" (American Record Guide);
"unusually colorful and richly varied readings....shade her
sound in the manner of a Renoir pastel" (CD Review of the Week);
"an appealing colorist" (New York Times); "Played with Okashiro's
surprising technical acumen and tasteful use of rubato, the
end is ravishing. She's so incredibly poetic, even in the terrifying
fast pieces, that one can't help being bowled over....unreal....terrific"...
"Yet one has to admit that they (Horowitz, and the grand Russian
manner, Ashkenazy) - and most others - seem slightly unseasoned.
Okashiro's distinguished readings vault to the top of current
listings for their uncanny insight into the body and soul of
Scriabin's complexity." (In Tune); "gems" (Billboard); "....remarkable
recording....Okashiro plays with unremitting intensity and virtuosity,
producing showers of prismatic notes. At the end you think,
'Wow!' ....played with subtlety and gorgeous tonal effect."..."a
glittering and virtuosic traversal" (Boston Patriot Ledger);
"In this superb CD, I daresay I have found one of the most intelligent
and stimulating piano recitals I have encountered" (Newbie's
Guide To Classical CD); "Her playing is always distinctive and
quite extraordinary." (Fanfare).
Chitose Okashiro is a regular of mainstay classical stations
WQXR, WNYC and WBAI New York, KDFC and KUSF San Francisco, KKGO
and KUSC Los Angeles, KING Seattle, KOPB Portland, WFMT, WHPK
and WNIB Chicago and NHK FM Japan. Featured on Tokyo Metropolitan
TV and NHK Satellite TV during broadcasts of recitals and concerto
performances throughout Japan, the constant exposure helped
establish a strong media presence for her international career.
Miss Okashiro records exclusively for the Pro Piano Records
label. Her sixth release is an exciting all Wagner Piano Transcription
recording. Immediately prior was her critically acclaimed all
Scriabin CD featuring the world premiere recording of "The Poem
of Ecstasy". This was a two piano version transcribed by Conus-Okashiro.
It used an "over dub multi-track recording technique" allowing
Miss Okashiro to play both piano parts (something never before
attempted), to achieve a more colorful piano sound throughout
the entirety of the instrument's vast harmonic register.
She is active not only as a recording and performing pianist,
but also as a superlative record producer. Her focus as a producer
is to recognize a performer's musical personality with care
and sensitivity, then to find a way of capturing and reproducing
that personality as faithfully and passionately as possible.
Such stimulating experience lends her as an introspective opportunity
to examine herself, the pianist, through the eyes of her own
self, the producer. Thereby her various activities nourish themselves
from the musical intellect which resides within her, doing their
part to help her grow as a more complete and well-rounded artist.
A native of Japan, Miss Okashiro won numerous honors in Japanese
and international competitions including The Overseas Delegation
Prize, The Japan America Association's Competition, The 1993
International Chopin Competition, The Young Artists International
Competition and The 1993 Pro Piano Artist of The Year Award.
She received early musical education at Toho High School of
Music, her Bachelor's Degree from Toho University in Tokyo,
Master's Degree from The Juilliard School with Herbert Stessin,
and Professional Studies Program at Manhattan School of Music
under Karl Ulrich Schnabel, son of legendary pianist Artur Schnabel.
".....talented, courageous and intelligent, Chitose Okashiro
embodies the essence of the coming generation of keyboard redeemers:
a pianist who is true to her own self and her art..." --- Michel
Block, Pianist
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