Umi Garrett

Pianist Umi Garrett, dubbed American 'wunderkind' by Luxemburg TV. Featured on Ellen DeGeneres show. Winner at 12 year old of first prize in International Piano Competitions in Osaka, Budapest and the United States.

Umi Garrett began serious study of the piano under the instruction of Mrs. Itoe Akimoto and Mrs. Yoshie Akimoto. Currently, Garrett studies with Mr. John Perry.

In May 2009, Umi Garrett appeared on NBC’s The Ellen DeGeneres Show., and has been invited to perform at the Killington Music Festival in Vermont as the youngest performer in the 26 year history of the festival. Garrett attended the Sydney International Piano Masterclass Festival in 2012. She also plays the violin and has taken ballet since she was two and a half.

Garrett captivated European audiences in August 2009 as a performer in several concerts at the Vianden Music Festival in Luxembourg and Germany in selected solo and chamber music works.

In 2010, Umi won the Second International Chopin Competition in Hartford, Connecticut with a perfect score from all three judges, and was subsequently invited to perform at Carnegie Hall. Also in 2010, Garrett had an appearance with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops sponsored by NPR’s From the Top, and her orchestral debut with the Desert Symphony in Palm Desert, California in December 2009, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major. Garrett made her China debut with the Wuhan Symphony Orchestra in 2010 at the age of nine at Wuhan.

In 2011 Garrett performed at the Assisi nel Mondo Festival. Garrett has performed with the Charlotte Symphony in Florida, Thayer Symphony in Massachusetts, Saddleback Symphony in California, Indiana Chamber Orchestra in Indianapolis, and the Missouri Symphony in Columbia.

On March, 2012 Umi Garrett performed at The International Piano Stars Festival in Latvia being the youngest performer in the festivals history. This year she performed again at the Assisi nel Mondo Festival.

Umi Garrett created a special concert series called “Kizuna Concert Series” to visit people in Tohoku, Japan, where the Tsunami happened in 2011. She had 4 concerts in Tohoku in March, 2013.

Umi resides in the USA, and speaks both English and Japanese. When not practicing or performing, Umi enjoys playing with her friends, going to school, drawing, going to museums, watching movies, listening to music and traveling.

webpage: www.umigarrett.com