Luther faculty to present solo piano recital February 6

Miko Kominami, Luther College music faculty, will give a solo piano recital, Friday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. in the Noble Recital Hall in the Jenson-Noble Music Hall on the Luther campus.

Kominami will perform Toccata in e minor, BWV 914 by J.S. Bach, Sonata, Op. 27, No. 2 “Moonlight” by Beethoven, “The Bumblebee” transcribed by Rachmaninoff and Concerto in F by George Gershwin. She will be assisted by piano faculty Du Huang on second piano in the Gershwin piece.

Kominami has been a Luther College faculty member since 2002, and she is the principal keyboardist of the Cedar Rapids Symphony. A graduate of the Juilliard School in New York, Kominami frequently performs both solo and chamber music to critical acclaim throughout the United States and internationally.

Kominami was previously a piano faculty member at the University of Notre Dame.

Her solo career was launched by her New York solo debut recital at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 1996, as a prize for winning the Artists International Award. She was acclaimed by New York Concert Review as “both a virtuosic and a musicianly performer.”

As a concerto soloist, Kominami has appeared with the Danbury Symphony, Kishwaukee Symphony, Luther College Chamber Orchestra, Indiana University South Bend Philharmonic and the Cedar Rapids Symphony.

Kominami has concertized extensively throughout North America, including performances in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and Toronto.
 
In addition to her solo engagements, she is a founding member of the Murasaki Duo, a cello/piano ensemble. Internationally recognized, the Duo has released a compact disc on the Centaur Records label and its recent performances include a concert tour of Norway and Denmark, and a performance at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in New York. The Duo is regularly heard on chamber music series throughout the nation.

Frequently sought out as a guest artist, Kominami has been invited to perform at numerous music festivals, including the Niagara International Chamber Music Festival, Malibu Coast Music Festival, Icicle Creek Music Center in Washington, Iowa Composers Forum and the Arcady Music Festival in Maine.

Kominami has performed live on WMEH (Maine), in an hour-long radio broadcast. She has also been featured numerous times on KSUI’s program “Know the Score.” She is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including a Canada Council Arts Grant and first prize at the 1996 Concerto Soloists’ Competition in Philadelphia.